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THE    ROYAL    MARRIAGE 
MARKET    OF    EUROPE 


rhflto  :  Brooks 

PRINCESS   MARY    OF   GREAT   URITAIN    AND    IRELAND 


The  Royal  Marriage 
Market  of  Europe 


By 

PRINCESS   CATHERINE    RADZIWILL 

(Catherine   Kolb-DaDvIn) 


With  Eight   Half-tone  Illustrations 


NEW    YORK 

FUNK  AND  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

1915 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

IN  former  times  Royal  marriages  were  considered 
the  most  important  events  in  the  political  world, 
and  their  negotiation  was  generally  entrusted  to  the 
ablest  diplomats  in  Europe.  Up  to  the  latter  half  of 
the  last  century  Sovereigns  sought  that  the  marriage 
alliances  into  which  they  entered  should  prove  ad- 
vantageous to  the  countries  over  which  they  held  sway. 
It  is  certain  that  politics,  in  a  far  greater  degree  than 
personal  feelings,  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  marriages 
among  the  different  dynasties  of  Europe,  and  that  the 
relations  of  the  various  European  empires  and  kingdoms 
depended  considerably  upon  the  direction  in  which 
these  alliances  were  contracted.  Notable  exceptions 
were  the  matches  contracted  by  Louis  XVI.  and,  later 
on,  by  the  great  Napoleon  himself  when  he  sought  the 
hand  of  the  Archduchess  Marie  Louise. 

At  even  so  recent  a  period  as  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  question  of  a  suitable  consort 
for  the  son  and  heir  of  King  Louis  Philippe  caused 
ink  to  flow  copiously  in  the  chancelleries  of  the  great 
capitals,  as  upon  it  was  supposed  to  depend  the  con- 
solidation of  the  Orleans  dynasty  on  its  usurped 
throne. 

Later  on,  when  Napoleon  III.  raised  to  the  dignity 
of  an  Empress   the  fair   Spaniard,  Eugenie,  who  had 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

won  his  heart  and  captivated  his  fancy,  the  un- 
precedented step  was  prophesied  by  many  as  being 
certain  to  bring  about  the  fall  of  the  newly  restored 
Empire.  In  more  modern  days  things  changed,  and 
it  became  evident  that  personal  feelings,  personal 
relations,  and  personal  affections  counted  but  little 
in  matters  affecting  the  welfare  of  nations,  so  that 
Sovereigns  and  their  families  found  themselves  more  at 
liberty  to  choose  consorts  without  any  political  inter- 
ference or  considerations.  Like  common  mortals  they 
were  allowed  to  marry  and  to  be  happy  according  to 
their  own  ideas. 

Nevertheless,  some  marriages  —  for  instance,  as 
those  of  the  then  Prince  Frederick  of  Prussia  with 
the  Princess  Royal  of  England,  and  of  the  Duke  of 
Edinburgh  with  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie  Alexan- 
drovna  of  Russia — caused  a  certain  amount  of  sensation 
in  diplomatic  circles,  as  to  the  possible  consequences 
that  might  follow  upon  them.  But  on  the  whole, 
nowadays,  these  events  are  looked  upon  as  purely 
private  matters,  which  concern  only  those  immediately 
connected  with  them. 

It  is  probable,  however,  that,  after  the  present  war 
has  come  to  an  end,  Royal  alliances  will  become  once 
more  subjects  of  general  interest,  and  of  greater  im- 
portance than  has  been  the  case  during  the  last  twenty 
years  or  so.  This  fact  has  led  me  to  include  in  my 
book  a  review  of  personages  eligible  to  become  one 
day  the  consorts  of  European  rulers,  or  one  or^other 
of  their  relatives,  in  addition  to  placing  before  my 
readers  a  short  recital  of  the  circumstances  which  have 

vi 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

attended  the  unions  of  the  various  important  Royal 
personages  in  Europe.  I  have  endeavoured,  also,  in 
these  chapters  to  show  the  part  that  these  unions  have 
had  in  relation  to  the  Great  War  which  has  made 
Europe  a  continent  of  widows  and  weeping  mothers. 

The  subject  is  equally  interesting  from  another 
point  of  view,  because  it  is  tolerably  certain  that  hence- 
forward few  Royalties  will  seek  brides  in  the  German 
marriage  market,  as  formerly  was  customary  among 
reigning  houses.  Consequently,  the  range  of  choice 
will  find  itself  limited,  which  fact  is  bound  to  bring 
about  with  it  drastic  changes  in  regard  to  the  leading 
dynasties  of  Europe,  and  may  even  do  away  with 
the  rule  which  requires  Royalty  to  match  only  with 
its  equals.  Seen  in  that  aspect,  the  question  of  Royal 
marriages  has  acquired  such  considerable  interest  that 
it  becomes  both  opportune  and  informative  to  relate 
some  details  of  the  Royal  outlook  in  regard  to  marriage. 
It  is  this  congenial  task  which  I  have  set  myself  to 
fulfil  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  with  the  amount  of  in- 
formation which  I  have  at  my  disposal,  and  in  the  hope 
that  it  may  prove  acceptable  to  my  readers. 

Catherine  Kolb-Danvin 
(Princess  Catherine  Radziwill). 


vn 


CONTENTS 


OBAPTXR 

1.  The  House  of  Habsburg  .         .         .         . 

PAOX 
1 

2. 

The  Hohenzollerns  .... 

27 

3: 

The  Romanoffs          .... 

50 

4. 

The  Last  of  the  Nassaus 

71 

5. 

Luxemburg  and  Belgium  . 

88 

6. 

Italy  and  Servia      .... 

.      108 

7. 

Greece,  Roumania  and  Bulgaria     . 

.      121 

8. 

Spain  and  Portugal 

.      139 

9. 

Denmark  and  its  Alliances 

.      159 

10. 

Saxony  and  other  German  Courts  . 

.      179 

11. 

The  Royal  House  of  Sweden  . 

.      198 

12. 

The  Bourbon-Orleans  Dynasty 

.     217 

13. 

The  English  Royal  Marriages 

.     241 

Index        

.     261 

LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Princess     Mary     of     Great     Britain    and 

Ireland     .....  Frontispiece 

FACINa   PAGE 

Archduke    Charles    Francis    Joseph,    Arch- 
duchess   ZiTA,    AND    their    SON    ArCHDUKE 

Francis  Joseph  Otto        ....       12 

The  Royal  Family  of  Russia         ...       62 

Queen  Wilhelmina  of  Holland  and  Princess 

Juliana    .......       84 

Grand  Duchess  Marie  Adelaide  of  Luxemburg      94 

The  Royal  Family  of  Belgium      .         .         .     100 

The  Royal  Family  of  Denmark     .         .         .     176 

The*'Crown  Prince  and  Princess  of  Sweden 

and  Family 208 


The  Royal  Marriage  Market 

of  Europe 

CHAPTER  I 
THE  HOUSE  OF  HABSBURG 

THE  Habsburgs,  by  reason  of  their  ancient  lineage, 
appropriately  take  their  place  as  the  first  House 
whose  alliances  interest  us.  Its  chief,  Francis  Joseph, 
was  perhaps  the  first  Austrian  Sovereign  who  followed 
neither  the  desires  of  his  parents  nor  the  traditions  of  his 
family  in  his  choice  of  a  bride,  but  who  married  for 
love.  When  he  was  yet  a  boy  it  had  been  under- 
stood between  his  mother,  the  proud  and  haughty 
Archduchess  Sophy,  and  her  sister,  Duchess  Louise 
in  Bavaria,  that  he  should  wed  the  latter's  eldest 
daughter,  the  beautiful  Princess  Helene,  who  had  been 
specially  trained  to  fill  in  due  time  the  exalted  position 
they  had  destined  she  should  occupy.  It  had  been 
arranged  that  the  young  Emperor's  first  interview  with 
Helene  was  to  take  place  at  Ischl,  and  when  at  last  he 
met  her  there  she  did  not  appeal  to  his  impulsive  heart. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  fell  in  love  at  first  sight 
with  Hel^ne's  younger  sister,  Elisabeth.  He  had  not 
seen   her  for  more  than  a   few   minutes,  but  at  once 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

declared  to  his  mother  that  the  unformed  girl,  whose 
education  was  not  even  completed,  and  who,  ever  since 
her  childhood's  days,  had  been  allowed  to  run  wild  in 
the  parks  and  forests  surrounding  her  parents'  resi- 
dence of  Posscnhofen  in  the  Bavarian  Alps,  was  the 
only  woman  he  cared  to  marry.  At  first  the  Arch- 
duchess objected  strongly,  pointing  out  to  her  son 
that  the  child  who  had  captivated  his  fancy  was  hardly 
likely  to  prove  a  dignified  and  stately  Empress.  She 
had,  however,  to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  Francis  Joseph, 
and  two  days  later  the  official  papers  in  Vienna  an- 
nounced that  the  Austrian  monarch  had  become 
engaged  to  the  little  cousin,  whom  everybody  had 
snubbed  and  scolded,  until,  to  the  general  surprise, 
she  had  been  chosen  by  him  to  occupy  the  first  place 
in  his  Empire. 

Elisabeth,  in  those  early  days,  was  as  much  in  love 
with  her  future  husband  as  it  was  possible  for  a  child 
of  her  age  to  be  ;  she  was  barely  sixteen,  and  knew 
nothing  of  life,  still  less  of  the  world  and  of  the  part 
she  was  about  to  play  in  it.  Her  position,  though  it 
did  not  dazzle  her  as  it  might  have  done  one  less  earnest 
by  nature,  yet  presented  so  many  advantages  and  was 
so  brilliant  that  she  could  not  help  being  influenced 
by  it.  On  the  other  hand,  she  fondly  believed  that 
life  would  always  remain  the  delicious  fairy-tale  it  had 
so  far  proved  to  be,  and  when  she  found  that  it  con- 
tained also  many  sorrows,  the  discovery  made  her 
bitter  and  resentful. 

In  intellect  the  Princess  Elisabeth  was  brilliant  in 
the    extreme,   yet    her  character    lacked    the    balance 


A  SHORT-LIVED  PASSION 

vitally  necessary  to  enable  her  to  fight  victoriously  the 
prejudices  which  her  somewhat  eccentric  behaviour 
created  against  her.  She  inherited  a  good  deal  of  the 
unconventionality  of  the  Wittelsbachs,  and  when  she 
found  herself  neglected  by  the  Emperor,  and  not 
allowed  by  her  mother-in-law  to  exercise  over  him  and 
over  her  children  the  influence  she  would  have  liked 
to  acquire,  she  locked  herself  up  in  a  kind  of  haughty 
reserve.  This  attitude  was  not  devoid  of  grandeur, 
but  was  bound  to  excite  criticism  and  even  animosity 
against  her  person. 

Francis  Joseph's  love  for  her  was  of  short  duration  ; 
he  very  soon  turned  to  other  amusements,  and  not 
only  neglected  her  openly,  but  left  her  entirely  to  her- 
self, stipulating  that  their  children  should  remain 
under  the  care  of  his  own  mother,  of  whom  he  stood  in 
considerable  fear.  The  Empress,  whom  all  the  family 
and  entourage  were  doing  their  best  to  regard  as  a 
nonentity,  became  daily  less  and  less  interested  in 
their  sayings  and  doings.  She  began  to  lead  an 
existence  in  accordance  with  her  own  ideas,  in  which 
sport  constituted  the  principal  pleasure  and  the 
care  of  her  beauty  the  principal  occupation.  She 
travelled  all  over  the  world,  attended  only  by  a  very 
small  retinue,  and  though  she  had  got  strong  political 
opinions  of  her  own,  she  seldom  allowed  herself  to  air 
them,  or  to  attempt  the  exercise  of  influence  in  their 
furtherance.  On  rare  occasions  only  she  showed  her 
preferences  quite  openly,  as,  for  instance,  when  the 
Hungarian  question  came  to  be  seriously  discussed  in 
Austria. 

3 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Even  in  purely  private  matters,  such  as  the  marriages 
of  the  numerous  archdukes  and  archduchesses,  she 
never  troubled  to  make  the  weight  of  her  own  position 
felt  in  her  own  family,  and  hardly  ever  said  a  word 
by  which  one  might  have  been  able  to  guess  what 
she  thought  about  them.  She  used  to  say  sometimes 
that  the  less  she  heard  about  the  sayings  and  doings 
of  the  Imperial  family  the  happier  she  felt ;  and  she 
carried  this  indifference  so  far  that  even  when  the 
future  of  her  own  children  came  to  be  discussed,  she 
allowed  the  Emperor  to  have  his  own  way,  without 
seeking  to  learn  what  chances  of  happiness  for  her  off- 
spring lay  in  the  marriages  to  which  they  had  to  con- 
sent. Though  she  did  not  attempt  to  hide  the  fact 
that  she  disliked  the  Princess  Stephanie  of  Belgium 
she  did  not  offer  any  opposition  to  the  desire  of  the 
Emperor  to  see  her  wedded  to  their  only  son  ;  and 
subsequently,  when  the  union  turned  out  so  miserably 
unhappy,  she  made  little  effort  to  bring  about  a  better 
understanding.  Her  daughter-in-law  did  not  appeal  to 
her,  and  later  on  she  asserted  that  through  Stephanie's 
want  of  tact,  and  her  peevish  temper,  had  come  about 
the  terrible  scene  in  which  the  heir  to  the  Austrian 
throne  perished  together  with  the  unfortunate  and 
miserable  girl  who  loved  him  well  and  to  whom  he 
had  become  attached. 

Elisabeth  of  Austria  was  not  credited  with 
possessing  a  nature  capable  of  feeling  any  strong 
attachment,  partly  perhaps  because  she  did  her  best 
to  stifle  the  exhibition  of  any  such  sentiment,  and 
partly   because   she   had   acquired   a   morbid   fear    of 

4 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF  STARNBERG 

learning  to  care  too  much  for  anyone  or  for  anything, 
since  the  earher  disappointments  which  had  cast  such 
dark  shadows  over  her  Hfe. 

In  the  later  years  of  her  life  she  exhibited  a  great 
affection  for  her  cousin,  King  Louis  II.  of  Bavaria, 
whose  character  offered  so  many  points  of  resem- 
blance to  her  own,  and  his  cruel  end  was  a  most 
bitter  blow  to  her.  She  never  forgave  the  late  Prince 
Regent  Luitpold  for  the  part  he  had  played  in  the 
dark  tragedy  that  had  culminated  so  sadly  in  the 
blue  waters  of  the  lake  of  Starnberg,  and  it  is  related 
that  she  always  refused  to  see  him  whenever  she 
visited  Munich  after  that  event.  Apart  from  friend- 
ship she  refused  to  be  drawn  into  intimacy  with 
anyone,  and  preferred  leading  a  solitary,  wandering 
existence,  which  carried  her  from  one  place  to  another 
in  search  of  a  happiness  the  splendours  of  the  Vienna 
Hofburg  had  failed  to  bring. 

Elisabeth's  marriage  cannot  thus  be  put  forward 
as  an  example  of  felicity  attending  a  love  match, 
though  hers  had  rather  been  one  of  passion  than  of 
strong,  deep  affection.  As  happens  so  often  in  life, 
two  characters  most  antagonistic  to  each  other  had 
been  united  by  a  freak  of  destiny,  and  had  failed  to 
get  on  together,  perhaps  because  insufficient  effort 
had  been  made  to  smooth  down  differences  which 
were  bound  to  become  greater  and  greater  as  time 
had  the  effect  of  accentuating  them.  But,  strange  as 
it  may  appear,  her  personal  experience  of  conjugal 
life  had  not  inspired  the  Empress  with  the  desire  to 
save  her  children  from  the  disillusions  which  she  had 

5 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

endured.  Even  in  regard  to  the  Archduchess  Valerie, 
who  was  her  favourite,  the  Empress  had  more  than 
once  appeared  to  be  entirely  lacking  in  tenderness, 
and  when  the  question  of  her  youngest  girl's  marriage 
came  to  be  discussed,  she  had  accepted  for  her  son- 
in-law  the  Archduke  Francis  Salvator  without  offering 
the  slightest  objection,  and  though  she  had  never  got 
on  %vith  him  she  had  wisely  refrained  from  saying 
anything  to  her  daughter  likely  to  shake  the  latter's 
attachment  to  the  husband  she  had  been  told  to 
accept,  and  whom  she  had  married  with  that  absolute 
submission  which  has  ever  been  the  characteristic  of 
Austrian  princesses.  And  though  she  cared  in  her 
way  for  her  youngest  child,  Valerie,  Elisabeth  kept 
her  upon  a  footing  of  ceremonial  love  which  never 
reached  a  substantial  degree  of  warmth. 

Francis  Joseph  always  showed  himself  to  be  the 
most  selfish  of  fathers,  and,  though  old,  tottering,  and 
unprincipled,  he  yet  contrived  to  win  the  affection  of  his 
two  daughters  more  fully  than  did  his  lovely,  gifted, 
and  virtuous  consort.  He  never  got  on,  however,  with 
his  son  and  heir.  With  all  his  faults,  Rudolph  was 
at  heart  a  gentleman,  and  moreover  an  exceedingly 
clever  and  intelligent  man.  He  was  in  his  way  also  a 
great  patriot,  and  chafed  secretly  at  the  weak  grasp 
of  politics  which  the  Emperor  had  displayed  on  all 
the  serious  occasions  when  the  fate  of  his  dynasty 
had  trembled  in  the  balance.  The  Archduke  had 
never  cared  for  the  German  alliance  which  was  to 
become  so  precious  to  his  cousin,  the  ill-fated  Francis 
Ferdinand,    and    it    is   likely   that,  had   he   lived,  the 

6 


COUNTESS  SOPHY  CHOTEK 

orientation  of  Austrian  diplomacy  might  have  been 
very  different  from  what  it  has  become.  But  Rudolpli 
died,  and  the  succession  to  the  throne  passed  to  a 
collateral  line,  of  which  the  first  representative  was 
to  be  murdered  in  the  days  just  before  the  opening 
of  the  Great  War  of  1914. 

Had  the  victim  of  the  ghastly  tragedy  at  Sarajevo 
been  spared  to  become  the  ruler  of  the  Austrian  Em- 
pire, it  is  likely  that  the  morganatic  union,  which  he 
had  contracted  with  the  Countess  Sophy  Chotek, 
would  have  proved  one  of  the  most  remarkable  mar- 
riages that  a  reigning  sovereign  had  ever  entered 
into.  The  Countess  was  not  only  a  brilliant,  talented 
woman,  she  was  also  ambitious  ;  and  she  was  more- 
over entirely  under  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  who 
had  protected  her  to  a  considerable  extent  when  they 
had  found  out  that  she  had  won  the  affections  of 
the  nephew  and  heir  of  Francis  Joseph.  She  aspired, 
and  others  aspired  for  her,  to  become  at  least  Queen 
of  Hungary  should  fate  prove  strong  enough  to  pre- 
vent her  from  becoming  Empress  of  Austria.  Her 
sway  over  the  mind  of  her  husband  was  unlimited, 
and,  perhaps,  even  in  excess  of  the  love  which  he 
undoubtedly  bore  her.  Moreover,  she  had  contrived 
to  win  the  good  graces  of  the  Archduke's  stepmother, 
the  pious  but  bigoted  Archduchess  Marie  Therese,  a 
Princess  of  Braganza  by  birth,  whose  virtues  and 
high  principles  had  given  her  quite  an  exceptional 
position  at  the  Vienna  Court ;  she  had  presided  at  all 
state  ceremonies  and  festivities  ever  since  the  death 
of  the  Archduke    Rudolph    had    put    an    end    to   any 

7 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

attempt  to  do  so  on  the  part  of  the  Empress,  who 
after  that  terrible  catastrophe  had  never  again,  save 
once,  shown  herself  in  public.  That  occasion  was 
the  visit  paid  to  the  Austrian  sovereigns  by  the 
newly-married  Emperor  Nicholas  II.  of  Russia,  to- 
gether with  his  lovely  bride. 

Marie  Ther^se  had  been  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
women  of  her  time  ;  and  though  her  marriage  with 
Archduke  Charles  Louis,  then  old  and  stout,  had  been 
anything  but  a  happy  one,  she  had  never  allowed  the 
world  to  guess  the  truth,  and  had  gone  about  with  a 
haughty  demeanour,  which  repulsed  every  attempt  on 
the  part  of  her  family  or  her  friends  to  console  her  for 
the  cruel  disillusions  which  she  had  had  to  endure. 
When  she  became  a  widow  her  influence  over  the 
Emperor  remained  unshaken,  and  it  is  certain  that 
had  it  not  been  for  her  intervention  the  aged  monarch 
would  never  have  granted  his  consent  to  the  intro- 
duction into  the  family  circle  of  the  Habsburgs  of  such 
an  outsider  as  the  Countess  Sophy  Chotek  undoubtedly 
was  according  to  their  ideas.  But  Marie  Ther^se 
could  when  she  liked  enforce  her  opinions  upon  others, 
and  she  explained  with  such  conviction  to  Francis 
Joseph  that  he  dared  not  contradict  her.  Neverthe- 
less, although  the  lady  in  question  belonged  to  the 
highest  aristocracy  of  Bohemia,  he  stipulated  that  the 
marriage  must  always  be  considered  as  a  morganatic 
cne,  and  that  the  children  who  might  be  born  of  it 
must  never  aspire  to  become  anything  else  but  Princes 
or  Princesses  of  Hohenberg,  taking  the  title  which 
was  granted  to  the  Countess  Chotek. 

8 


INTRIGUES  THAT  FAILED 

When  the  union  took  place,  Francis  Ferdinand, 
whose  father  had  died  a  few  years  before,  was  occupying 
the  position  of  heir-presumptive  to  the  Crown,  and 
had  already  shown  more  than  one  sign  of  the  energy 
of  character  he  was  to  display  so  very  soon,  much  to 
the  surprise  of  all  those  who  had  prophesied  that  he 
would  never  be  anything  else  but  a  nonentity.  He 
was  not  an  alertly  intelligent  man  by  any  means,  rather 
heavy  in  his  appreciations,  and  certainly  never  bril- 
liant ;  but  he  had  something  of  that  obstinacy  which 
narrow-miilded  persons  so  often  possess,  and  which  is 
considered  by  many  as  firmness  of  character,  whilst 
in  reality  it  is  only  a  symptom,  if  not  of  weakness,  at 
least  of  lack  of  comprehension  of  other  people's  opinions. 
When  he  got  an  idea  into  his  head  nothing  in  the 
world  could  induce  him  to  change  it,  and  he  hailed 
with  joy  any  fact  tending  to  confirm  him  in  it.  When, 
therefore,  the  Emperor  William  consented  to  receive 
as  his  equal  the  Princess  of  Hohenberg — the  title  of 
Duchess  was  only  awarded  her  a  short  time  before 
her  untimely  end — the  Archduke  became  there  and 
then  the  staunchest  friend  of  the  Prussian  monarch, 
and  entered  warmly  into  all  his  schemes,  which  let  it 

ft 

be  said,  by  the  way,  were  very  much  in  accordance 
with  his  own  plans,  as  they  aimed  at  the  destruction 
of  Russian  influence  in  the  Balkans.  This  attach- 
ment of  the  German  Emperor  and  the  future  ruler  of 
Austria  might  have  led  to  unexpected  surprises  had 
not  the  career  of  the  latter  been  cut  short,  and  all  the 
consequences  which  his  romantic  marriage  might  have 
had  perished  with  him. 

9 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

His  younger  brother,  the  Archduke  Otto,  had  died 
before  him,  the  victim  of  an  unprincipled  and  vicious 
mode  of  Hfe.  He  had  been  married  to  a  woman  of 
singular  merit,  the  Princess  Marie  Josepha  of  Saxony, 
who  had  borne  with  an  angel's  patience  the  ill-treat- 
ment to  which  he  had  subjected  her,  but  who  was 
not  possessed  of  sufficient  strength  of  character  and 
experience  of  the  world  to  be  able  to  guide  her  sons 
in  their  education  and  in  their  youthful  days.  She 
was  proud  and  austere  ;  and,  being  very  devout,  had 
all  her  thoughts  centred  in  the  direction  of  good  works, 
and  pilgrimages  to  different  churches  and  shrines. 

Nevertheless,  she  aspired  also  to  play  a  political 
role.  Her  marriage  had  been  entirely  one  of  con- 
venience, and  she  saw  no  reason  why  her  children 
should  arrange  otherwise.  She  hated  the  Duchess  of 
Hohenberg,  whom  she  suspected  of  intriguing  to  secure 
for  her  sons  the  rank  of  Archdukes,  with  the  right  to 
succeed  to  the  throne  ;  and  she  used  continually  to 
talk  to  the  Emperor  about  the  necessity  of  marrying 
her  own  eldest  boy  as  early  as  possible,  so  as  to 
ensure  the  succession  to  the  Crown  in  the  direct  line. 
The  Archduke  Charles  Francis  Joseph  was  a  mild 
young  man  ;  he  was  the  perfect  type  of  an  Austrian 
"  nobleman,"  full  of  vanity,  with  very  little  learning, 
of  dashing  manners,  good-natured,  but  could  hardly 
be  called  keen-witted.  Nevertheless,  he  stood  next 
to  his  uncle  in  the  order  of  succession  to  the  realm  of 
the  Habsburgs,  and,  as  such,  his  marriage  was  bound 
to  be  a  very  serious  affair.  Marie  Josepha  under- 
stood  this   perfectly,    and   almost  before   he   had   left 

lO 


SEEKING  A  BRIDE 

school  she  started  looking  for  a  daughter-in-law  after 
her  own  heart. 

Bavaria  boasted  of  several  whose  faith  would  not 
prove  an  impediment,  a  Protestant  princess  being,  of 
course,    out   of  the   question.     The    Wittelsbachs,    for 
instance,   had  always   been   devout   Roman   Catholics, 
but  the  Archduchess  did  not  care  for  an  alliance  with 
that  House ;   its   members   had  already  far  too   often 
intermarried  with  the  Austrian  Royal  line.     She  held 
that  consanguinity  was  not  conducive  to  happy  con- 
sequences   in    the    question    of    marriages.     For    that 
same  reason  she  rejected  the  idea  of  allying  her  son 
to    an    Archduchess,  though    there    were     many    who 
would  have  been  but  too  willing  to  accept  the  prospect 
of  becoming  an  Empress.     She   disliked  the   Orleans, 
because  the  example  of  her  cousin,   the  Archduchess 
Dorothea,  who  was  wedded  to  the  French  Pretender, 
had  proved  such  a  miserably  unhappy  affair.     There 
remained,  therefore,  the  Italian  and  Spanish  Bourbons, 
whose  blood  was  just  as  ancient  as  that  of  the  Habs- 
burgs,  and  whose  opinions  were  entirely  in  accordance 
with  her  own.     Among  them  the  family  of  the  Duke 
of    Parma   had  captivated  all   her  sympathies,   owing 
to  its  strictly  Catholic  principles,  and  to  the  care  with 
which  the  Duchess,  a  Princess  of  Braganza  by  birth, 
and  the  sister  of  the  Archduchess  Marie  Therese,  her 
husband's  stepmother,  had  brought  up  her  numerous 
daughters.     It  was  true  that  imbecility  was  supposed 
to  be  hereditary  in  that  branch  of  the  Bourbon  family, 
and  that  out  of  the  twenty  children  that  his  two  wives 
had  borne  to  the  Duke  of  Parma,  several  were  confirmed 

II 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

idiots  ;  but  somehow  this  fact  did  not  seem  to  strike 
Marie  Josepha,  and  she  advised  her  son  to  spend  a 
few  days  at  the  castle  to  which  the  widowed  Duchess 
had  retired,  and  to  become  acquainted  with  the  many 
young  and,  as  she  supposed,  charming  girls  who  were 
sharing  her  solitude  there. 

The  Archduke  obeyed  his  mother  in  this  as  in 
everything  else,  and  he  started  for  the  Villa  Pianore, 
in  Tuscany,  where  the  Parma  family  used  to  spend 
its  summers.  When  there  he  quickly  became  capti- 
vated by  the  youthful  charms  of  the  Princess  Zita, 
one  of  the  youngest  in  this  happy  and  numerous  house- 
hold, and  after  having  solicited  his  mother's  and  his 
uncle's  consent,  he  proposed  to  her,  and,  as  may  be 
easily  imagined,  was  at  once  accepted. 

Strangely  enough,  this  marriage  did  not  appeal  to 
the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  who  had  been  secretly 
hoping  that  his  eventual  successor  might  choose  as  a 
wife  one  of  his  uncle's  own  granddaughters  ;  either  the 
child  of  the  Archduke  Rudolph,  or  one  of  the  daughters 
of  the  Archduchess  Valerie,  whom  he  had  grown  to 
love  very  much,  ever  since  she  had  at  last,  not  how- 
ever without  a  sharp  struggle,  consented  to  admit  the 
intimacy  that  existed  between  him  and  the  actress  Frau 
Katrine  Schratt.  But  he  was  hardly  in  a  position  to 
make  objections  to  his  nephew's  choice,  as  it  was  every- 
thing that  the  Austrian  protocol,  so  severe  in  all  mat- 
ters where  birth  is  concerned,  could  have  wished  for. 

When  he  saw  her  for  the  first  time,  the  undoubted 
beauty  of  the  Princess  Zita  appealed  strongly  to  him ; 
she  not  only  excited  his  admiration,  but  also  won  as 

12 


Photo :  H.    C.   Kosf/,    Vienna 

THE   ARCHDUKE    CHARLES    FRANCIS    JOSEPH, 

ARCHDUCHESS   ZITA,  AND  THEIR  SON    ARCH- 

DUKE    FRANCIS    JOSEPH    OTTO 


A  RETIRED  EXISTENCE 

much  of  his  old  withered  heart  as  he  was  able  to  give 
to  anyone  or  to  anything  in  the  world.  He  even 
consented  to  grace  the  marriage  ceremony  with  his 
presence  when  it  was  celebrated  at  the  castle  of 
Schwarzau,  in  Lower  Austria,  and  loaded  the  bride 
with  beautiful  presents,  some  people  say  in  order  to 
prove  to  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  and  to  the 
Duchess  of  Hohenberg  that  there  was  a  difference  be- 
tween the  treatment  which  he  awarded  to  a  morganatic 
wife  and  that  which  he  meted  out  to  a  Princess  be- 
longing by  birth  to  one  of  the  oldest  dynasties  in 
Europe.  Upon  this  everything  came  to  an  end  ;  and 
so  long  as  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  lived,  his 
nephew,  Charles  Francis  Joseph,  together  with  his 
consort,  were  kept  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
Vienna,  nor  were  they  allowed  to  come  forward  con- 
spicuously in  the  public  functions. 

They  did  not  mind  it ;  they  were  entirely  in- 
different as  to  their  own  future,  perhaps  because 
they  did  not  realise  the  importance  which  it  was 
bound  to  acquire.  They  remained  quite  content  to 
lead  a  retired  existence,  to  play  with  their  dogs  first 
and  yvith  their  children  afterwards  ;  to  ride  and  to 
shoot ;  to  skate  and  to  take  long  walks  together, 
whenever  they  found  the  time  and  the  opportunity 
to  do  so.  The  young  husband  never  gave  a  thought 
to  the  possibility  of  his  coming  into  the  immediate 
line  of  succession  to  Francis  Joseph,  and  rather  dreaded 
the  advent  to  power  of  an  uncle  by  whom  he  knew 
himself  to  be  disliked.  His  wife,  too,  feared  the  snubs 
which  she  guessed  she  would  have  to  submit  to  from 

13 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

the  Duchess  of  Hohenberg ;  snubs  for  which  she 
revenged  herself  beforehand,  by  doing  her  best  to 
make  the  former  feel  that  she  was  but  an  outsider 
in  a  family  circle  who  had  put  up  with  her,  but  who 
would  never  accept  her  as  one  of  its  own,  no  matter 
what  efforts  she  might  make  to  persuade  it  to  do  so. 

In  one  respect  the  marriage  of  the  present  heir- 
presumptive  to  what  will  be  left  of  the  realm  of  the 
Habsburgs  after  the  war  was  a  success.  It  gave  him 
a  consort  who  will  never  aspire  to  play  any  political 
role  in  the  history  of  her  country,  and  who  will  remain 
content  with  her  position  as  an  Empress,  with  its 
attendant  advantages,  without  wishing  to  influence  her 
husband  or  to  mix  herself  up  in  matters  of  State. 

Zita  of  Parma  had  been  brought  up  as  a  nonentity, 
in  an  atmosphere  of  petty  interests,  religious  fanati- 
cism, and  more  or  less  worldly  frivolity.  She  is  a 
fond  mother,  an  affectionate  wife,  and  a  lovely  little 
woman,  who  cares  only  for  her  household  duties,  and 
to  whom  a  serious  book  afiords  no  pleasure  to  read 
whilst  the  English  novels  published  in  the  Tauchnitz 
edition  are  a  source  of  unfailing  amusement.  She 
goes  regularly  to  church,  fasts  on  prescribed  days,  is 
fond  of  dancing,  and  as  excited  over  a  ball  as  any 
debutante  in  her  first  season.  When  the  war  broke 
out,  she  shed  a  few  conventional  tears,  but  did  not 
come  forward,  as  she  might  have  been  expected  to  do 
in  her  position  as  wife  of  the  future  sovereign,  with 
any  attempt  to  head  a  humanitarian  movement  to 
help  the  wounded  or  disabled.  She  is  timid  by 
nature,   and  perhaps,   after  all,   between  her  mother- 


ZITA  OF  PARMA 

in-law,  the  Archduchess  Marie  Josepha,  and  the  Arch- 
duchesses Marie  Ther^se  and  Isabella,  who  started 
numerous  schemes  of  relief,  she  felt  crushed  so  far  as 
any  desire  she  might  have  for  personal  activity. 

All  Princess  Zita's  family  did  its  best  to  persuade 
her  that  she  was  but  a  child,  too  young  to  have  any 
opinions  of  her  own,  and  who,  having  no  experience 
of  the  world,  ought  to  listen  to  what  her  elders  told 
her,  and  never  venture  to  act  independently  under 
any  circumstances  whatever.  This  was  entirely  in 
accord  with  the  traditions  of  the  Habsburgs,  and  far 
more  Hkely  to  appeal  to  them  than  the  eccentricities 
of  the  Empress  Elisabeth,  who  from  the  very  first 
hours  of  her  marriage  had  refused  to  bow  down  before 
the  strictness  of  the  etiquette  which  prevailed  at  the 
Hofburg.  The  Archduchess  Zita,  on  the  contrary, 
was  always  most  careful  to  observe  all  the  prescrip- 
tions of  this  etiquette,  and  never  forgot  herself  for  a 
single  moment,  keeping  always  before  her  eyes  the 
necessity  of  being  the  good  child  her  mother  had  told 
her  she  ought  to  be  when  she  married  the  future 
Emperor  of  Austria. 

WJiat  she  will  do  and  what  her  husband  will  do 
when  they  find  themselves  seated  upon  the  throne  it 
is  difficult  to  say.  It  is  not  likely,  however,  that  either 
of  them  ^vill  show  the  least  originality  in  their  actions 
or  in  their  behaviour.  Charles  Francis  Joseph  will  be 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  such  of  his  ministers  as  he  will 
find  in  power  when  he  ascends  the  throne.  Ignorant 
of  politics  as  he  is,  he  will  content  himself  with  smiling, 
and  will  still  look  at  things  around  him  without  seeing 

15 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

them.  He  will,  perhaps,  shoot  a  little  less  and  hold  a 
few  more  military  reviews  than  does  his  great-uncle, 
the  present  Monarch ;  and  he  will  receive  the  am- 
bassadors accredited  to  his  Court  with  the  courtesy  of 
a  man  whose  experience  of  the  world  is  very  limited. 
He  will  eschew  talk  about  politics,  and  it  can  be  pro- 
phesied with  perfect  safety  that  he  will  never  indulge 
in  the  exuberance  of  language  which  distinguishes 
his  ally,  the  Emperor  William  II.  of  Germany.  He 
will  be  an  excellent  wooden  figure  on  whose  shoulders 
it  will  be  always  possible  to  throw  the  weight  of  many 
responsibilities,  and  he  will  accept  them  without  in  the 
very  least  understanding  in  what  they  consist  or  what 
they  represent. 

The  Archduchess  will  spend  her  time  in  washing, 
dressing,  and  educating  her  children,  of  whom  it  is 
probable  she  will  have  a  large  number.  She  will  have 
long  interviews  with  her  dressmaker,  and  insist  upon 
the  latter  making  for  her  high-necked  or  most  modestly- 
cut  evening  gowns,  selecting  simple  materials  in  un- 
pretending colours,  such  as  pale  blue  or  pink  with  a 
sprinkling  of  white  here  and  there  to  relieve  it.  She 
will  put  on  with  pleasure  the  Crown  jewels  whenever 
circumstances  may  require  her  to  do  so,  and  she  will 
be  very  pleased  whenever  etiquette  may  demand  her 
to  give  a  reception  at  the  Hofburg,  and  at  the  same 
time  not  insist  on  her  entertaining  her  guests  other- 
wise than  by  bowing  to  them  or  smiling  upon  them. 
She  will  be  the  conventional  Empress,  such  as  the 
Habsburgs  have  always  tried  to  secure  for  their  sons, 
and  she  will  be  far  too  afraid  of  doing  anything  likely  to 

i6 


AUSTRIAN  IMPERIAL  HOUSE 

compromise  her  dignity,  or  of  being  original  in  any- 
thing save  in  the  cut  of  her  clothes  ;  and  even  this  will 
proceed  more  from  the  bad  taste  in  dress  of  Austrian 
ladies  than  from  her  personal  initiative.  Zita  of 
Bourbon  Parma  is  quite  a  la  hauteur  of  the  husband 
to  whom  she  is  united,  and  following  the  example  of 
very  happy  people,  they  will  never  have  a  history 
of  their  own,  or  interest  themselves  in  that  of  others. 
Their  marriage  was  a  success  from  the  very  first ;  and 
in  the  Habsburg  family  such  have  been  all  too  few. 

The  Austrian  Imperial  House  has  seldom  been 
lucky  in  the  choice  of  its  brides,  and  the  public  or 
private  scandals  which  have  arisen  from  time  to  time 
have  been  far  too  numerous  for  it  to  be  possible  to 
keep  count.  In  spite  of  the  Emperor's  severity,  one 
Archduke  after  another  tried  to  emancipate  himself 
from  the  thraldom  in  which  the  exigencies  of  a  mer- 
ciless etiquette  kept  them  confined.  To  begin  with 
the  youngest  brother  of  the  Archduke  Francis  Fer- 
dinand, he  renounced  all  his  titles  and  privileges  as  a 
member  of  the  Habsburg  family  to  marry  the  daughter 
of  a  professor  of  a  German  university  ;  while  at  the 
other  .end  of  the  line  the  ex-Crown  Princess  of  Saxony 
and  her  brother  succeeded  in  shaping  out  for  them- 
selves a  rather  strange  existence.  There  have  been 
stories  without  number  about  the  love  affairs  of  the 
numerous  nephews  and  cousins  of  the  reigning  Austrian 
sovereign.  Nearly  all  of  them  seem  to  have  con- 
ceived a  perfect  horror  for  all  the  conventions  of 
their  exalted  estate.  The  eldest  granddaughter  of 
Francis  Joseph,  the  Princess  Elisabeth  in  Bavaria, 
c  17 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

the  child  of  the  Archduchess  Gisela,  ran  away  with 
a  simple  gentleman,  the  Baron  von  Seefried,  who 
was  later  on  created  Count,  and  given  the  key 
which  the  Imperial  chamberlains  wear  upon  their 
backs  at  the  Austrian  Court.  Her  brother.  Prince 
George,  was  the  hero  of  an  even  greater  scandal,  when 
his  wife  of  a  few  days,  the  pretty  and  merry  little 
A.rchduchess  Isabella,  fifth  daughter  of  the  Archduke 
Frederick,  ran  away  from  him  and  succeeded  in  get- 
ting her  union  with  him  annulled  by  the  Pope,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  divorce  is  not  admitted 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  She  was  a  nice  girl, 
who  did  not  deserve  the  unhappy  fate  which  became 
her  portion.  After  she  had  regained  her  freedom, 
Princess  Isabella  gave  herself  up  entirely  to  good 
works,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  Great  War  became 
a  sister  of  the  Red  Cross,  working  with  the  utmost 
devotion  in  the  cause  of  charity,  and  tending  the  sick 
and  wounded  with  an  unfailing  solicitude.  She  is 
credited  with  having  declared  that  under  no  circum- 
stances whatever  would  she  be  induced  to  marry 
again,  and  that  her  remembrances  of  her  married 
life  were  such  that  she  would  never  run  the  risk  a 
second  time. 

The  marriage  of  her  parents  had  also  been  a  ro- 
mance in  its  way.  Archduke  Frederick  was  con- 
sidered the  best  match  in  the  Habsburg  family,  being 
the  sole  heir  of  his  uncle.  Archduke  Albert,  whose 
wealth  could  be  counted  by  millions.  All  the  mar- 
riageable Archduchesses  threw  their  caps  at  him,  and 
wondered   whether  they  would  be  able  to  appeal   to 

i8 


PRIDE  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  CROY 

his  tastes  and  to  his  affections.  But  to  the  general 
surprise  the  young  man — he  was  barely  twenty-two 
at  the  time — fell  in  love  with  the  Princess  Isabella  of 
Croy,  whose  father,  the  Duke  of  Croy,  though  belonging 
to  the  higher  order  of  the  German  aristocracy,  was 
still  looked  upon  as  a  simple  gentleman,  in  possession 
of  large  means  and  an  old  title.  He  proposed  to  her 
a  few  days  after  he  had  met  her  for  the  first  time. 
She  was  a  clever,  ambitious  woman,  who  at  once 
understood  the  immense  advantages  of  such  an  un- 
hoped-for marriage,  and  she  did  not  even  attempt  to 
dissimulate  the  great  satisfaction  that  she  derived 
from  the  offer  made  by  the  young  Archduke.  Their 
marriage,  however,  met  with  violent  opposition  on 
the  part  of  the  Imperial  family,  who  tried  to  suggest 
that  it  ought  to  be  considered  morganatic.  This 
proposition  stung  to  the  quick  the  pride  of  the  Duke 
of  Croy,  and  he  forthwith  produced  a  sheaf  of  ancient 
documents  establishing  beyond  doubt  the  fact  that 
from  time  immemorial  his  family  had  been  considered 
the  equal  by  birth  of  reigning  houses,  and  claimed  for 
his  daughter  the  right  to  be  recognised  as  an  Arch- 
duchess of  Austria  after  her  marriage  with  Archduke 
Frederick. 

Fierce  quarrels  ensued,  and  at  last  the  Emperor 
was  appealed  to  ;  he  decided  in  favour  of  the  claims 
put  forward  by  the  Duke.  The  Princess  Isabella 
became  an  Archduchess.  In  the  first  years  which 
followed  upon  her  marriage  she  did  not  have  a  pleas- 
ant time  in  Society ;  not  only  the  Imperial  family, 
but  also  the  aristocracy   of  Vienna,  were   incensed  at 

19 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

her  elevation  to  a  rank  to  which  it  considered  she 
had  no  right.  Foremost  among  the  objectors  was  her 
eldest  sister,  the  Princess  Eugenie,  who  was  married 
to  Prince  Esterhazy,  and  who  did  not  quite  relish  the 
idea  of  Isabella,  her  youngest  sister,  taking  precedence 
at  Court. 

In  spite  of  these  difficulties  Princess  Isabella,  who 
was  certainly  a  clever  woman,  contrived  very  soon  to 
secure  an  enviable  position  in  the  Imperial  family, 
and  to  be  liked  not  only  by  its  members  but  also  by 
Hungarian  society,  who  appreciated  the  fact  that  she 
settled  with  her  husband  in  Presburg,  and  opened  the 
doors  of  her  hospitable  home  to  the  Hungarian  no- 
bility, whom  she  entertained  on  a  lavish  scale,  a  thing 
which  her  large  fortune  allowed  her  to  do  easily.  She 
arrived  in  time  to  play  an  important  part  in  the  gay 
world,  and  her  opinions  were  taken  into  account  every- 
where and  by  everybody,  not  even  excepting  the 
Emperor.  She  had  six  daughters  in  succession,  and 
only  gave  birth  to  a  much-longed-for  son,  twenty  years 
after  her  marriage.  The  event  was  the  occasion  of 
much  rejoicing,  as  the  child  became  heir  to  the  vast 
entailed  estates  of  the  late  Archduke  Albert,  to  whom 
his  nephew  Archduke  Frederick  had  succeeded  as 
life  tenant.  The  heritage  would  have  passed  to  a 
collateral  line  of  the  Habsburg  family  had  the  little 
son  not  arrived.  The  daughters  became  most  eligible 
brides  for  Catholic  princes,  but  their  marriages  were 
the  source  of  much  anxiety  to  their  mother,  who  would 
have  liked  them  to  wed  crowned  heads,  and  who 
cherished  the  hope  that  the  eldest  one  might  become 

20 


ROYAL  HOPES  BLIGHTED 

the  wife  of  her  cousin,  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand, 
and  the  second  that  of  King  Alphonso  of  Spain,  who 
was  her  first  cousin,  Queen  Marie  Christina  and  the 
Archduke  Frederick  being  brother  and  sister.  Alas, 
these  hopes  were  destined  not  to  be  fulfilled,  because 
the  heir  to  the  Austrian  throne  fell  in  love  with  the 
lady-in-waiting  of  the  Archduchess,  the  attractive 
Countess  Sophy  Chotek,  much  to  the  rage  of  his  august 
aunt,  who,  when  she  became  acquainted  with  the  fact, 
turned  the  unfortunate  girl  out  of  her  house  in  the 
most  insulting  manner  possible,  and  never  forgave  her 
nephew  for  the  disappointment  he  had  inflicted  on  her. 
Then,  in  regard  to  the  youthful  ruler  of  Spain,  he 
succumbed  to  the  charms  of  the  fair-haired  Princess 
Ena  of  Battenberg,  disdaining  the  cousin  in  whose  veins 
flowed  the  blue  blood  of  the  Habsburg  Lorraines. 

The  Archduchess  Isabella,  thus  baffled  in  what  had 
been  the  dreams  of  her  life,  turned  her  eyes  toward  the 
young  son  of  the  Archduke  Otto  and  the  Archduchess 
Marie  Josepha,  who  in  due  time  was  to  replace  upon 
the  throne  of  Austria  the  husband  of  Sophy  Chotek. 
But  there,  again,  her  ambitions  came  to  nothing,  be- 
cause the  Princess  Zita  of  Parma  won  that  much  coveted 
prize,  and  the  haughty  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Croy 
had  to  resign  herself  to  wed  her  own  girls  to  private 
gentlemen  of  high  rank  and  large  means,  such  as  the 
Princes  of  Salm-Salm  and  of  Hohenlohe-Schillingsfiirst ; 
whilst  the  younger  ones  became  respectively  the  con- 
sort of  Prince  Elias  of  Parma  and  of  Prince  George  of 
Bavaria,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Archduchess  Gisela  of 
Austria.     This  last  marriage  did  not  turn  out  a  success, 

21 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

because,  as  I  have  already  stated,  the  bride  fled  from 
her  husband's  house  almost  immediately  after  her 
wedding. 

The  daughters  of  the  Archduchess  Isabella  were  not 
the  only  Austrian  princesses  who  married  commoners, 
or  at  least  not  members  of  any  reigning  house.  Others, 
such  as  the  second  daughter  of  the  Archduchess  Marie 
Therese,  the  three  girls  of  the  Archduke  Charles 
Stephen,  and  one  of  the  numerous  daughters  of  the  ex- 
Grand  Duke  of  Toscana,  wedded  out  of  their  sphere. 
Indeed,  the  marriage  of  the  Archduchess  Eleonore, 
the  eldest  child  of  Archduke  Charles  Stephen,  sur- 
prised even  those  who  knew  the  democratic  opinions 
professed  by  her  parents.  She  fell  in  love  with  a 
naval  officer,  Herr  von  Kloss,  who  had  no  birth  but 
plenty  of  good  looks  to  boast  of,  and  no  money  or 
high  connections  to  recommend  him  to  her  choice. 
Their  wedding  was  a  nine  days'  wonder,  and  caused 
a  mild  flutter  in  the  select  circles  of  Viennese  society, 
who  had  accepted  members  of  the  higher  German 
nobility  as  husbands  for  its  Archduchesses,  but  who 
could  not  digest  the  fact  that  a  Princess  belonging  to 
the  reigning  dynasty  had  become  simple  Frau  von 
Kloss,  as  the  Archduchess  Eleonore  insisted  upon 
being  called  by  her  friends  and  acquaintances. 

There  were  two  other  weddings  which  caused  even 
more  excitement  in  Austria  than  the  one  to  which  I 
have  just  referred  ;  the  marriage  of  the  widow  of 
the  Crown  Prince  Rudolph,  Princess  Stephanie,  with 
Count  Elemer  Lonyay,  and  of  her  only  daughter, 
the    Archduchess    Elisabeth,    with    Prince    Otto    von 

22 


-vl 


PRINCESS  STEPHANIE'S  ROMANCE 

Windisch-Graetz,  a  younger  son  of  that  princely  family. 
The  Crown  Princess  had  never  been  much  liked  in 
Vienna,  and  ever  since  her  widowhood  she  had  had 
a  most  difficult  and  unpleasant  position  at  the  Court. 
She  was  compelled  to  take  a  back  seat,  as  it  were, 
the  etiquette  of  the  Hofburg  not  granting  to  ^vidows 
any  official  rank,  and  obliging  them  to  live  in  retire- 
ment, a  fact  which  did  not  agree  at  all  with  the  pleasure- 
loving  and  pleasure-seeking  Stephanie.  For  some 
years,  until  her  daughter  had  reached  years  of  dis- 
cretion, she  travelled  about,  and  avoided  Vienna, 
until  one  day  she  became  seriously  attracted  by  hand- 
some Count  Lonyay,  a  Hungarian  nobleman,  rich 
and  amiable.  Being  of  a  rather  determined  charac- 
ter, she  herself  broached  the  subject  of  a  marriage 
with  him  to  the  Emperor,  who  was  perhaps  not  so 
very  sorry  at  heart  to  see  her  settled  far  away  from 
him,  and  so  readily  gave  his  consent  to  the  union. 
Stephanie's  own  father,  however,  King  Leopold  of 
Belgium,  was  terribly  indignant,  and  forthwith  seized 
the  pretext  to  cut  her  out  of  his  will  to  the  fullest 
limit  that  the  law  allowed  him,  and  refused  to  see 
her  kny  more  more  after  she  had  become  the  Countess 
Lonyay.  Princess  Stephanie,  however,  accepted  this 
decision  with  considerable  philosophy  ;  and,  notwith- 
standing the  parental  wrath,  she  was  united  to  the 
husband  of  her  choice  on  a  spring  morning  fifteen  years 
ago  in  the  private  chapel  of  the  Castle  of  Miramar,  on 
the  Adriatic  coast,  which  old  Francis  Joseph  had  put  at 
her  disposal  for  the  occasion. 

It  was  related  afterwards,  not  without  some  secret 

23 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

satisfaction  in  Vienna,  that  as  soon  as  the  happy  pair 
had  exchanged  rings,  the  Imperial  standard  which  had 
been  floating  on  the  tower  of  the  castle  in  accordance 
with  custom  whenever  a  member  of  the  Imperial 
family  resided  within  its  walls,  was  lowered,  as  a  sign 
that  the  Crown  Princess  no  longer  belonged  to  the 
Habsburgs.  She  did  not  mind,  however,  and  was  said 
to  have  declared  that  the  happiest  day  of  her  life 
had  been  that  when  she  had  ceased  to  be  an  Arch- 
duchess of  Austria. 

When  the  mother  married  again,  the  Princess 
Elisabeth  was  eighteen  years  old.  She  was  very  like 
her  father  in  looks,  though  far  from  having  inherited 
his  intelligence  or  love  for  science  and  literature.  She 
had  been  brought  up  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Empress  at  first,  and  of  the  Emperor  afterwards,  and 
had  been  taught  all  that  a  young  lady  in  her  position 
ought  to  know  in  a  country  where  it  is  not  the  ex- 
ception but  the  rule  to  rear  girls  according  to  the 
method  prescribed  by  Fenelon,  who  declared  that  a 
woman  ought  to  know  how  to  read  and  write,  memorise 
her  catechism  and  be  able  to  do  needlework,  but 
nothing  more.  Her  relations  with  the  Crown  Princess, 
though  cordial,  had  never  been  tender,  and  after  the 
latter's  second  marriage  they  became  cooler.  Prin- 
cess Elisabeth  was  fond  of  dancing  and  of  riding, 
but  neither  a  lover  of  books  nor  of  art  in  any  shape  or 
form.  She  had  all  the  insufficiencies  of  character  and 
intelligence  that  from  time  immemorial  have  charac- 
terised the  majority  of  the  members  of  the  Habsburg 
family,  together  with  their  prejudices  and  their  fanati- 

24 


MARRIAGE  OF  PRINCESS  ELISABETH 

cism.  But  she  was  also  a  girl  fond  of  the  world  and 
of  its  pleasures,  and  whilst  waltzing  at  her  first  ball 
with  Prince  Otto  von  Windisch-Graetz,  a  nice,  well- 
brought-up  and  exceedingly  well-mannered  young 
man,  she  lost  her  heart  to  him,  and  forthwith  went  to 
confide  her  secret  to  her  grandfather,  declaring  to 
him  that  she  would  die  of  despair  if  she  were  not 
allowed  to  marry  him.  Francis  Joseph  was  fond  of 
this  only  daughter  of  his  dead  son,  and  had  not  the 
courage  to  refuse  her  request.  He  sent  for  the  father 
of  Prince  Otto  and  told  him  that  he  consented  to  the 
union  of  the  Archduchess  with  his  boy.  The  marriage 
was  forthwith  solemnised,  to  the  joy  of  the  youthful 
bride,  who  was  given  as  a  wedding  present  most  of 
the  jewels  which  had  belonged  to  her  grandmother, 
the  murdered  Empress  Elisabeth.  The  family  into 
which  she  made  her  triumphal  entry  was  granted  the 
title  of  Serene  Highness,  which  it  had  enjoyed,  but 
not  possessed  by  right  until  the  day  when  it  inter- 
married so  unexpectedly  with  the  Habsburgs. 

There  had  been  a  time  when  the  Archduchess  had 
been  spoken  of  as  a  possible  wife  for  the  King  of  Spain, 
whosG  mother,  Queen  Marie  Christine,  would  have 
viewed  with  more  favourable  eyes  the  union  of  her 
son  with  a  princess  belonging  to  the  same  race  from 
which  she  herself  had  sprung.  The  difference  of  age 
which  existed  between  them,  however,  settled  the 
question  before  it  had  been  seriously  broached  to 
the  interested  parties.  Apart  from  Alphonso  there 
was  hardly  anyone  in  Europe  worthy  to  marry  the 
granddaughter   of   the  Emperor  of  Austria,  especially 

25 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

if  one  takes  into  account  the  fact  that  it  was  out  of 
the  question  for  her  to  wed  outside  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith.  Perhaps  the  aged  Austrian  monarch  took  this 
circumstance  into  consideration  when  he  made  up  his 
mind  not  to  thwart  her  desire.  He  felt  as  much  affec- 
tion for  her  as  his  old,  egoistical  nature  was  capable  of 
feeling,  and  hesitated  before  interfering  between  her 
and  what  she  rightly  or  wrongly  thought  would  prove 
to  be  her  happiness.  Sometimes  Francis  Joseph  could 
be  lenient,  though  in  other  cases  he  showed  himself 
something  worse  than  cruel.  An  instance  of  this 
latter  quality  was  where  the  present  divorced  wife 
of  the  King  of  Saxony  was  concerned.  Instead  of 
protecting  this  impulsive  and  foolish,  but  not  bad  at 
heart,  young  woman,  who,  it  is  absolutely  true  though 
not  generally  known,  had  appealed  to  him  for  aid  in 
the  miseries  of  her  conjugal  life,  he  rudely  thrust  her 
aside,  and  found  nothing  better  to  do  in  the  way  of 
response  to  her  entreaties  than  to  deprive  her  of  her 
rank  and  title  of  Archduchess,  even  before  her  divorce 
from  the  then  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony.  His  act  shut 
before  her  all  possibility  of  a  return  to  her  home. 

The  matrimonial  ventures  of  the  Habsburgs  have  been 
infinitely  more  varied  than  would  be  gathered  from  what 
is  here  related,  but  these  stories  concern  mostly  the 
younger  members  of  the  family,  and  have  no  political 
tinge.  In  this  series  I  propose  to  deal  only  with  such 
matches  as  can  have  an  influence  of  some  kind  on  politics, 
and  certainly  the  love  affairs  of  this  or  that  Archduke 
with  this  or  that  burlesque  actress  of  Vienna  cannot 
aspire  to  that  honour. 

26 


*. 


CHAPTER    II 
THE  HOHENZOLLERNS 

UNTIL  the  marriage  of  the  late  Emperor  Frederick 
III.  the  Prussian  Royal  Family  had  been  averse  to 
contracting  alliances  with  foreign  princesses,  and  had 
always  married  into  the  German  reigning  families, 
holding  the  opinion  that  it  was  always  better  to  wed 
women  belonging  to  one's  own  nationality.  It  was 
only  when  the  friend  and  adviser  of  the  Prince  Consort 
of  England  conceived  the  idea  of  bringing  into  close 
union  by  marriage  the  two  greatest  Protestant  dynas- 
ties in  Europe  that  King  Frederick  William  IV.  allowed 
his  ambitions  to  soar  so  high  as  to  dream  of  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Queen  Victoria  as  a  bride  for  his  nephew 
and  eventual  successor.  The  Princess  of  Prussia, 
who  was  one  day  to  become  the  Empress  Augusta, 
entered  with  zeal  into  this  plan,  and  tried  to  further 
it  with  all  the  influence  she  unquestionably  wielded 
over  the  mind  of  her  son,  the  Prince  Frederick.  She 
had  always  been  upon  affectionate  terms  with  Queen 
Victoria,  and  was  more  than  delighted  at  the  hope  to 
be  able  to  call  daughter  the  young  Princess  Royal  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

As  everyone  knows,  the  marriage  was    celebrated 
at  last  with  great  pomp  in  the  chapel  of  St.  James's 

27 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Palace,  and  the  newly  married  couple  a  few  days  later 
took  their  departure  for  Germany,  where  they  were 
received  with  the  greatest  cordiality  and  enthusiasm. 
Unhappily,  it  was  not  long  before  the  Princess  found 
out  that  she  had  very  little  in  common  with  the  people 
of  her  husband's  land,  and  it  is  probable  that  if  she 
had  been  less  tenderly  attached  to  the  Prince  Frederick 
her  life  would  have  been  even  more  difficult  than  it 
became.  As  time  went  on,  she  realised  more  and  more 
that  it  is  always  best  for  a  woman,  be  she  a  royal 
princess  or  a  simple  mortal,  to  remain  in  her  own 
country ;  so  that,  when  the  marriage  of  her  eldest 
daughter,  and  afterwards  of  her  first-born  son,  came 
to  be  discussed,  she  decided  that  she  would  not  seek 
foreign  alliances  for  her  children. 

With  the  Princess  Charlotte  the  thing  was  rela- 
tively easy.  Of  small  German  princes.  Royal  or  Serene 
Highnesses,  there  were  not  a  few  who  were  only  too 
willing  to  seek  the  honour  of  her  hand.  The  Princess 
at  that  time  was  not  the  pretty  woman  she  became, 
but  she  was  nevertheless  attractive,  and  her  character 
had  not  yet  developed  so  unpleasantly  as  it  was 
destined  to  do  in  later  years.  She  had  a  small  dowry, 
but  the  fact  of  being  the  granddaughter  of  the  first 
German  Emperor,  and  also  of  the  Queen  of  England, 
was  in  itself  an  attraction,  and  gave  her  considerable 
prestige  among  the  dozens  of  princes  and  dukes  who 
figure  in  the  first  part  of  the  Almanack  de  Gotha. 
Prince  Bernard  of  Saxe-Meiningen  had  always  been 
a  favourite  of  the  Crown  Frmcess,  and,  having  been 
constantly  in  her  house,  had  contrived,  notwithstand- 

28 


BISMARCK  OBJECTS 

ing  the  fact  that  he  was  anything  but  a  handsome  man, 
to  win  the  favour  of  the  Princess  Charlotte,  who  guessed 
perhaps  what  a  good-natured  husband  he  would  be- 
come. It  was  not  surprising,  therefore,  that,  amidst 
much  pomp  and  festivity,  these  two  were  married. 

The  Princess  Charlotte's  marriage,  however,  had 
no  political  importance,  and  bore  no  later  influence 
upon  the  destinies  of  Germany.  When  the  question 
of  a  wife  for  Prince  William,  the  futiu-e  heir  to  the 
throne,  came  to  be  discussed,  the  old  Emperor  William 
was  anxious  that  he  should  choose  a  German  bride, 
whilst  the  sympathies  of  the  Empress  Augusta  leaned 
towards  a  foreign  alliance.  She  would  have  wished 
her  grandson  to  wait  a  few  years  before  taking  to  him- 
self a  bride,  and  then  to  marry  one  of  the  daughters 
of  the  Princess  Christian  of  Schleswig-Holstein,  who 
had  always  been  her  great  favourite.  Bismarck,  how- 
ever, objected  to  the  plan,  not  caring  to  see  another 
English  princess  seated  on  the  Prussian  throne,  and 
the  children  of  the  Princess  Christian,  having  been 
brought  up  almost  entirely  in  England,  were  far  more 
English  than  German.  Strangely  enough,  the  Crown 
Princoss  Victoria  for  once  found  herself  in  agreement 
with  the  mighty  Chancellor,  and  openly  said  so,  add- 
ing that  she  felt  sure  a  foreign  marriage  would  not 
be  conducive  to  the  happiness  of  her  first-born  son, 
the  peculiarities  of  whose  character  were  not  unknown 
to  her.  One  had  therefore  to  discover  among  the 
many  German  princesses  who  would  be  eligible  and  cap- 
able in  due  time  of  filling  with  the  necessary  dignity 
the  exalted  sphere  of  German  Empress. 

29 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

There  was  at  that  time  hving  in  Kiel,  in  com- 
parative poverty,  a  prince  who  had  been  deprived  of 
his  vast  estates  after  the  war  of  1864!  with  Denmark, 
and  who,  in  appearance  at  least,  seemed  to  be  an 
irreconcilable  enemy  to  the  Hohenzollern  dynasty.  It 
was  Duke  Frederick  of  Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-^ 
Augiistenburg,  who  was  married  to  the  Princess 
Adelaide  of  JHohcnlohe-Langenburg,  a  relative  of 
Queen_  Victoria^  and  the  cousin  of  old  Prince  Clovis 
of  Hohcnlohe-Schillingsfiirst,  one  day  to  replace  Prince 
Bismarck  as  Chancellor  of  the  German  Empire. 

Duke  Frederick  had  one  son  and  four  daughters, 
who  were  all  brought  up  with  the  greatest  simplicity, 
and  far  from  every  kind  of  worldly  pleasure  in  which 
their  limited  means  did  not  allow  them  to  participate. 
The  eldest  daughter.  Princess  Augusta  Victoria,  was 
a  tall,  fair  girl,  with  a  wealth  of  lovely  hair  and  per- 
haps a  superabundance  of  colour,  which  spoiled  what 
otherwise  would  have  been  an  exquisite  complexion. 
It  was  on  her  that  Bismarck's  choice  fell.  In  this 
alliance  he  saw  considerable  advantages  for  the  future 
Emperor,  and,  moreover,  the  means  to  bring  to  a 
happy  issue  the  quarrel  which  was  still  waging  be- 
tween the  Prussian  Government  and  the  dispossessed 
Duke  of  Augustenburg.  On  the  betrothal  of  the 
Duke's  daughter  with  Prince  William  of  Prussia  Bis- 
marck allowed  to  be  returned  to  Duke  Frederick  the 
estates  which  had  been  confiscated  at  the  time  of  the 
war  with  Denmark. 

The  Crown  Princess  had  always  been  great  friends 
with  Duke  Frederick,  whose  cause  she  had  defended 

30 


PRINCESS  AUGUSTA  VICTORIA 

with  perhaps  more  warmth  than  prudence  at  a  time 
when  it  had  been  impossible  to  foretell  that  he  was 
destined  to  see  his  child  invested  with  the  Imperial 
dignity.  She  therefore  hailed  the  plan  of  Prince 
Bismarck  with  joy,  though  not  without  intense  aston- 
ishment, and  entered  into  it  with  enthusiasm.  The 
Duke  was  asked  what  he  thought  of  the  proposal, 
and,  needless  to  add,  accepted  it  with  unfeigned 
pleasure.  As  for  Prince  William,  after  having  seen 
the  Princess  Augusta  Victoria,  he  declared  that  she 
pleased  him  so  much  that  he  was  quite  ready  and 
willing  to  lead  her  to  the  altar.  It  may  be  that  the 
apparent  meekness  which  she  showed  attracted  him, 
as  he  thought  that  she  would  never  prove  trouble- 
some, or  aspire  to  mix  herself  up  in  matters  of  State 
which  did  not  concern  her.  The  marriage  also  offered 
other  advantages,  the  principal  of  which  was  that  it 
put  an  end  to  the  intrigues  of  many  people  who  would 
have  liked  to  mate  Prince  William  with  a  woman 
over  whom  they  could  acquire  some  influence,  so  that 
thus  they  could  check  Bismarck's  dominance.  In  this 
respect  the  great  politician  made  an  absolute  mistake, 
because  the  young  girl  in  whom  he  had  hoped  to  find 
a  submissive  instrument  very  quickly  understood  that 
if  she  wanted  to  remain  upon  good  terms  with  her 
husband  she  had  better  leave  the  Chancellor  severely 
alone,  and  not  allow  him  to  use  her  when  he  wanted 
to  convey  something  to  the  knowledge  of  Prince 
William.  With  her  quiet  demeanour  Augusta  Victoria 
observed  very  carefully  all  that  went  on  around  her, 
and  had  at  once  discovered  that  the  supposedly  close 

31 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

friendship  between  her  consort  and  Prince  Bismarck 
had  in  reahty  no  existence.  She  further  perceived  that 
Prince  William,  though  quite  willing  she  should  help 
him  on  occasions  when  he  wanted  to  confide  in  some- 
one, did  not  intend  her  to  know  or  to  understand  his 
plans  and  intentions.  Princess  Augusta  Victoria  there- 
fore effaced  herself.  In  a  certain  sense  this  was  an 
easy  thing  to  do,  as  she  loved  above  everything  else 
the  numerous  children  who  were  born  to  her  in  quick 
succession,  and  was  never  so  happy  as  when  playing 
with  them  in  their  nursery.  She  had  the  good  sense 
to  leave  her  husband  alone,  and  though  she  suffered 
keenly  from  them,  she  yet  pretended  never  to  notice  his 
numerous  divergences  from  the  path  of  strict  conjugal 
fidelity.  Nevertheless,  she  determined  that  when  she 
was  able  to  do  so  she  would  not  miss  the  opportunity 
to  make  him  feel  that  she  had  been  wise  enough  to 
keep  silent.  Princess  Augusta  Victoria  was  thoroughly 
German  in  everything  that  she  did,  from  the  manner 
in  which  she  pinned  her  hat  upon  her  head  to  the 
serious  interest  she  took  in  all  matters  connected  with 
the  welfare  of  Germany,  and  particularly  that  of  the 
poorer  classes.  She  hated  France,  and  French  ways, 
and  disapproved  of  the  ladies  who  went  to  the  gay 
city  for  their  clothes  and  for  their  complexions.  Her 
marriage  realised  the  hopes  of  Prince  Bismarck  in 
that  it  did  away  with  the  last  vestiges  of  foreign  in- 
fluence at  the  Court  of  the  Hohenzollerns,  which  under 
her  guidance  became  exclusively  German.  In  view 
of  the  events  that  have  happenetl^suBsequently  this 
proved    a   lucky   circumstance,    because    if   Fate    had 

32 


THE  CROWN  PRINCE  REBELS 

placed  an  English  or  a  Russian  princess  in  Berlin  she 
would,  at  the  present  moment,  have  had  to  look  upon 
things  which  could  only  have  seemed  hideous  and  dis- 
gusting to  her  eyes. 

In  this  respect  the  marriage  of  the  present  German 
Emperor  has  been  a  complete  success,  and  proves  once 
more  the  unusual  political  instinct  which  was  such  a 
remarkable  feature  in  the  character  of  Prince  Bis- 
marck. Apart  from  the  matters  with  which  I  have 
just  dealt,  the  union  was  an  exceedingly  happy  one, 
in  spite  of  the  considerable  difference  in  the  characters 
of  the  two  people  who  had  contracted  it.  They  did 
not  even  quarrel  over  the  education  of  their  children, 
because  in  that,  as  in  everything  else,  the  Empress 
Augusta  Victoria  submitted  to  the  views  of  her  hus- 
band ;  she  remained  aware  that  princes  of  Prussia 
ought  to  be  reared  in  a  particular  manner  and  inocu- 
lated from  their  very  earliest  infancy  with  an  absolute 
conviction  of  the  grandeur  of  their  country.  She 
trained  her  sons  in  principles  of  strict  obedience  to 
the  head  of  their  House,  impressing  upon  them  that 
they  were  but  instruments  in  the  Emperor's  hands, 
and  in  everything  bound  to  conform  to  his  desires. 

The  Crown  Prince  was  the  one  who  gave  her  the 
most  trouble  in  that  respect  ;  he  rebelled  openly 
against  his  father,  and  made  no  secret  of  his  thorough 
disapproval  of  his  father's  methods  of  government.  It 
was  very  soon  felt,  both  by  the  Emperor  William  II. 
and  by  his  consort,  that  the  Crown  Prince,  if  left 
alone,  was  in  danger  of  falling  under  baneful  influences, 
and  they  forthwith  decided  to  marry  him  as  soon  as 

D  33 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

possible.  The  only  difficulty  lay  in  the  choice  of  the 
young  lady  whom  he  was  to  take  to  his  heart  and 
to  make  his  wife. 

German  princesses  existed  in  plenty,  but  some- 
how none  of  them  seemed  to  agree  with  the  views  of 
the  parents  of  the  Crown  Prince,  while  Prince  Frederick 
William  himself  was  more  than  inclined  to  refuse  all 
those  who  were  offered  to  his  choice.  From  the  be- 
ginning he  had  declared  that  he  intended  only  to 
marry  a  woman  he  loved  and  admired,  and  whom  he, 
as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  world,  considered  to  be 
pretty.  Now  beauty  is  not  frequently  met  in  Ger- 
many, and  this  last  condition  was  rather  more  difficult 
to  fulfil  than  any  other.  Many  girls  were  put  forward 
as  eligible,  but  none  of  them  pleased  the  difficult 
young  man.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Empress  feared 
that  her  son  might  fall  in  love  with  some  princess 
with  whom  she  would  not  feel  in  perfect  agreement. 
She  wanted  her  boy's  wife,  above  everything  else,  to 
be  a  strong  German  patriot,  one  who  looked  with 
contempt  upon  everything  that  was  not  German, 
and  who  repudiated  sympathy  with  foreign  ways, 
foreign  customs,  and  foreign  views. 

One  summer  the  Crown  Prince  accepted  an  invi- 
tation to  visit  one  of  his  relatives  in  Mecklenburg, 
and  whilst  there  he  met  for  the  first  time  the  Duchess 
Cjecile.  ..jif— MeckleabuxgrSchwerin,  the  sister  of  _  the. 
Queen  of  Denmark  and  of  the  reigning  Grand  Duke  of 
Schwerin.  She  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  not 
perhaps  regularly  beautiful,  but  witty,  clever,  and 
charming  in  all  her  manners  and  ways.    She  had  some 

34 


GRAND  DUCHESS  OF  MECKLENBURG 

Russian  blood,  too,  in  her  veins,  her  mother  having 
been  a  Russian  Grand  Duchess,  and  niece  of  the  Tsar. 
It  is  true  that  the  Duchess  Cecile  had  been  brought 
up  in  France,  where  her  mother  had  spent  the  greater 
part  of  each  year  since  her  widowhood,  and  that  she 
was  credited  with  French  sympathies  and  an  overween- 
ing love  for  French  modes ;  but  this  did  not  prevent 
her  from  being  an  exceedingly  captivating  little 
creature.  The  ever-ready-to-fall-in-love  Crown  Prince 
was  immediately  enthralled,  and  on  his  return  to 
Berlin  informed  the  Emperor  that  at  last  he  had  met 
the  one  being  whom  he  liked  well  enough  to  ask  to 
become  his  wife. 

At  first  William  II.  objected,  not  because  the 
marriage  did  not  offer  considerable  advantages,  among 
which  was  also  to  be  reckoned  the  fact  that  the  Princess 
was  supposed  to  have  a  very  large  dowry,  but  because 
he  was  not  on  speaking  terms  with  her  mother,  the 
widowed  Grand  Duchess  of  Mecklenburg,  whose  strong 
Russian  sympathies  did  not  appeal  to  the  Emperor, 
and  whose^  liberty  of  manners  he  considered  to  be 
most  unsuitable  for  a  lady  of  the  high  rank  she  occu- 
pied ip  the  world.  He  was  also  afraid  that  this  enter- 
prising  person  might  feel  tempted  to  influence  her 
daughter  to  work  in  favour  of  a  Russian  alliance, 
which  the  German  Emperor  did  not  desire  in  the  very 
least.  He  would  not  have  objected  to  the  Crown 
Prince's  desire  to  marry  the  pretty  Duchess  Cecile, 
but  he  protested  most  energetically  against  her  mother, 
the  Grand  Duchess  tAnastasia.  ^  The  question  had 
therefore  to  be  discusse3~with  infinite  care,  and  at  last 

35 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

a  compromise  was  arrived  at  whereby  the  Grand 
Duchess  promised  never  to  return  to  Berhn  after  the 
marriage  of  her  daughter.  At  the  wedding  ceremony 
the  Grand  Duchess  treated  with  the  utmost  unconcern 
and  indifference  the  affronts  which  were  showered 
upon  her  by  the  impulsive  Sovereign,  an  attitude 
which  considerably  annoyed  him. 

The  wedding  was  celebrated  with  great  pomp  in  the 
old  Castle  of  Berlin,  and  the  young  couple  took  up 
their  abode  at  the  Marble  Palace  of  Potsdam,  having 
also  as  a  residence  the  smaller  palace  which  the 
Dowager  Empress  Frederick  had  occupied  until  her 
death. 

The  Crown  Princess  soon  made  herself  exceedingly 
popular,  in  spite  of  her  love  for  French  modistes,  which 
never  left  her,  despite  the  despair  of  Berlin  trades- 
men, who  reproached  her  for  her  indifference  in  regard 
to  their  efforts  to  obtain  her  patronage.  However,  this 
was  the  only  direction  in  which  she  retained  the  French 
sympathies  which  she  was  credited  with  possessing. 
Otherwise  she  showed  herself  an  even  more  rabid 
German  than  her  husband,  and  readily  allowed  her- 
self to  be  inveigled  into  the  numerous  intrigues  of  the 
self-styled  military  party,  who  clamoured  for  a  war 
and  reproached  the  Emperor  for  his  disregard  of  cer- 
tain things  in  which  their  fevered  minds  beheld  an 
affront  to  the  grandeur  of  that  Germany,  whom  they 
wished  to  see  omnipotent  over  the  whole  of  the  world. 
When  the  present  war  was  declared  the  Crown  Princess 
made  herself  conspicuous  by  the  energy  with  which 
she  entered  into  its  preparations,   and  she  was  made 

36 


THE  GERMAN  GROWN  PRINGESS 

the  object  of  tumultuous  ovations  on  the  part  of  the 
Berlin  mob,  which  she  accepted  with  the  utmost 
grace  and  apparent  gratitude.  Ever  since  she  had 
been  married  she  had  instilled  into  the  mind  of  the 
Crown  Prince  that  the  Emperor  was  getting  old  and 
had  lost  part  of  his  former  audacity  and  energy.  It 
was  high  time,  therefore,  she  perpetually  told  the 
Crown  Prince,  that  he  should  take  matters  in  hand 
himself  and  try  to  give  new  impulse  to  German  politics, 
to  lead  his  Fatherland  forward  toward  a  new  era, 
in  which  Germany  should  have  dominion  over  the 
whole  world. 

The  Crown  Princess  is  to-day  perhaps  the  most 
popular  woman  in  the  whole  of  Germany  ;  she  knows" 
this  well,  and  does  her  best  to  keep  up  the  popularity" 
which  she  has  acquired  among  all  classes  of  the  nation. 
She  is  "the  "strong  man"  in  her  home,  and  the  Crown 
Prince  would  never  dare  to  take  any  serious  step 
without  previously  consulting  her  and  seeking  her 
advice  and  co-operation.  She  is  not  the  effaced 
kind  of  woman  that  her  mother-in-law  has  schooled 
herself  into  appearing,  and  she  would  feel  very  un- 
happy were  she  not  kept  informed  as  to  everything 
that  the  Crown  Prince  intends  doing  or  saying.  Her 
influence  over  him  is  very  great,  and  unhappily  it  is  not 
by  any  means  a  good  one ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  most 
disturbing  element,  not  only  in  her  own  household, 
but  also  in  matters  of  State.  She  wants  to  control 
affairs  for  which  she  is  neither  apt  by  her  intelligence, 
nor  prepared  by  her  education.  A  severe  critic  once 
said    that   she    is   "a   perfect   type   of   a   degenerated 

37 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

sovereign  who  tries  to  seek  not  the  affection  of  her 
people,  but  the  approval  by  the  mob  of  her  actions, 
and  her  various  ways  of  courting  its  popularity  and 
of  appealing  to  its  evil  passions." 

The  Crown  Princess  Cecile  will  become  later  on,  if 
ever  her  husband  ascends  the  throne,  a  difficult  factor 
in  German  politics,  and  her  marriage  with  him  has 
had,  and  will  have  still  more  tremendous  consequences, 
from  the  political  point  of  view,  if  only  on  account  of 
the  importance  that  she  will  assume  as  Queen  in  a 
country  where  feminine  wishes  and  influence  have 
hitherto  had  little  influence.  The  strangest  thing  of 
all  is  that  this  princess,  who  has  already  acquired  such 
a  power  in  the  country  over  which  she  will  reign  one 
day,  is  far  from  having  the  intelligence  and  the  educa- 
tion of  either  the  Empress  Augusta  Victoria,  or  the 
Empress  Frederick,  who  yet  were  never  allowed  to 
have  an  opinion  of  their  own,  or  to  have  anything  to 
say  in  political  matters.  One  feels  impelled  to  moral- 
ise that  the  proverb  which  speaks  of  every  person 
getting  the  fate  that  he  or  she  deserves  can  also  be 
applied  to  nations,  because  no  sovereign  could  have 
suited  infatuated  Germany  better  than  the  silly, 
giddy,  amusing,  and  popular  little  girl  whom  fate  has 
linked  to  its  future  monarch. 

The  Empress,  though  upon  affectionate  terms  with 
the  Crown  Princess,  never  felt  quite  at  her  ease  with 
her.  The  Empress  Augusta  Victoria  kept  her  affec- 
tions for  another  daughter-in-law,  the  wife  of  her 
fourth  son,  Prince  Augustus  William.  The  Princess 
Alexandra,  who    was,    moreover,    the    Empress's    own 

38 


A  BRUTAL  MARRIAGE 

niece — being  the  child  of  her  sister,  Caroline  Mathilde, 
wedded  to  a  Prince  of  Schleswig-Holstein-Glucksburg 
— has  always  shown  herself  willing  to  listen  to  her 
mother-in-law.  She  is  a  nice  girl — fair,  fat,  and  a 
perfect  type  of  the  "Deutsche  Hausfrau,"  dear  to  the 
souls  of  German  novel-writers.  The  marriage  had  been 
arranged  by  Augusta  Victoria,  and,  though  one  of  con- 
venience, has  turned  out  as  well  and  as  happily  as  the 
union  of  two  perfect  nonentities  can  be. 

The  other  sons  of  the  Emperor  William  are  all 
married,  with  the  exception  of  the  youngest  one, 
Prince  Joachim.  Prince  Eitel  Fritz,  who  is  his  father's 
favourite,  being  as  tall  as  he  is  brutal,  and  as  ferocious 
as  he  is  fat,  took  to  himself  a  wife  almost  by  compul- 
sion, and  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  ugly  rumours  that 
were  flying  about  Berlin  concerning  him  and  his 
strange  propensities.  He  married  a  lady  much  older, 
than  himself,  the  daughter  of  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Oldenburg  and  of  that  beautiful  Princess  Elisabeth 
of  Prussia,  who  died  so  young  and  so  generally  regretted. 
The  Princess  Sophy  Charlotte  was  pretty,  rich,  and 
supposed  to  be  very  clever  ;  moreover,  she  was  not 
happy  in  her  own  home,  where  reigned  a  stepmother 
with  whom  she  did  not  agree.  At  first  the  Princess 
was  warmly  welcomed  in  Berlin,  but  nevertheless  did 
not  succeed  in  making  friends  there.  It  was  related 
that  when  she  found  out  to  what  a  sorry  personage 
she  had  linked  her  fate  she  withdrew  into  a  kind  of 
haughty  reserve,  from  which  she  has  never  emerged. 
She  is  scarcely  ever  seen  anywhere,  is  very  little  known 
in   Berlin   society,  and  no   matter  to  what   important 

39 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

position  her  husband  may  rise — and  it  is  rumoured 
that  the  Emperor  has  got  great  plans  in  his  mind  con- 
cerning the  future  of  that  favourite  son  of  his — she 
will  never  do  anything  to  popularise  it. 

The  German  Emperor  always  favoured  early  mar- 
riages, and  is  naturally  inclined  to  be  a  matchmaker, 
more  so  than  the  Empress  whose  temperament  was 
far  too  placid  to  indulge  in  any  kind  of  intrigues,  even 
those  of  matrimonial  intent.  He  therefore  encouraged 
his  sons  to  make  homes  for  themselves,  and  it  was 
only  when  Prince  Oscar  of  Prussia,  breaking  with  the 
traditions  of  his  family,  announced  his  intention  of 
wedding  his  mother's  lady-in-waiting,  the  Countess 
Ina  von  JBassewitz,  that  his  father  objected  and  put 
a  "veto  on  this  virtuous  intention.  The  story  created 
a  considerable  scandal,  and  led  to  much  talk  among 
those  select  circles  of  Court  society  where  the  sayings 
and  doings  of  every  member  of  the  Imperial  family 
are  watched  with  keen  interest.  Nevertheless,  the 
Prince  kept  firm  in  his  intention  to  ally  himself  to  a 
simple  countess,  and  he  succeeded  in  winning  over 
to  his  side  his  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Brunswick,  and 
in  the  end  she  induced  the  Emperor  to  yield  to  his 
son's  desire.  This  little  romance  excited  a  great  deal 
of  interest,  and  it  is  likely  that  Society  would  have 
talked  about  it  for  a  longer  time  than  it  did  had  not 
the  war's  advent  diverted  the  attention  of  the  public 
into  another  and  more  serious  channel.  The  war,  too, 
has  drawn  together  more  than  would  have  been  the 
case  under  ordinary  circumstances,  the  young  wife  of 
Prince   Oscar   to   her   parents-in-law,    by   reason   of  a 

40 


THE  DUKE  OF  CUMBERLAND 

common  anxiety  because  her  young  husband  fell 
dangerously  ill  as  a  result  of  the  fatigues  to  which  he 
had  been  subjected  during  the  first  months  of  the  war. 
The  matrimonial  future  of  the  Duchess  of  Bruns- 
wick, to  whom  I  have  just  referred,  was  the  subject 
of  wide  conjecture  ever  since  her  birth.  It  was  known 
that  her  father,  the  Emperor  William  II.,  had  great 
ambitions  in  regard  to  her,  and  at  one  time  rumour 
would  have  it  that,  in  spite  of  the  disparity  in  age, 
his  great  hope  was  to  arrange  a  union  between  Princess 
Victoria  Louise  and  the  J*rince  of  Wales,  and  it  was 
partly  with  this  intention  tKaTlie Tiad  taken  her  more 
than  once  to  England  to  win  the  favour  of  Queen  Mary. 
It  turned  out,  however,  that  in  reality  William  II. 
nursed  quite  different  ambitions  concerning  the  future 
of  his  spoilt  darling.  In  spite  of  his  brutality,  he  had 
a  sense  of  justice  which  now  and  again  was  manifested, 
especially  in  cases  when  it  might  advance  his  own 
schemes.  The  ijerman  Government  held  the  Duchy 
of  Brunswick  and  the  millions  which  its  possession 
entailed,  as  well  as  the  confiscated  fortune  of  the  last 
King  of  Hanover.  The  Emperor  William  II.,  whilst 
declaiung  that  in  his  opinion  both  Duchy  and  millions 
ought  to  be  returned  to  their  rightful  owners,  was  yet 
sore  at  heart  to  have  to  give  them  up.  He  then  con- 
ceived the  idea  that  he  could  disarm  the  enmity  of 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland  by  seeking  an  alliance  between 
Princess  Victoria  Louise  and  the  Duke's  only  son, 
Prince  Ernest.  The  negotiations  were  not  easy  to 
conduct,  but  at  last  they  succeeded,  and  matters  were 
arranged  so  far  that  a  happy  consummation  depended 

41 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

only  on  the  wishes  of  the  Princess,  whose  decision  her 
father  would  certainly  never  challenge. 

The  Princess  was  a  typical  example  of  those  latter- 
day  girls  who  think  that  they  know  everything  better 
than  their  elders,  and  who,  under  the  pretext  of  being 
romantic,  sometimes  sacrifice  considerable  advantages 
for  the  sake  of  asserting  themselves  in  opposition  to 
their  elders.  She  had  refused  several  excellent  matches 
already,  and  the  Emperor  began  to  fear  that  she  might 
become  entangled  into  a  serious  flirtation  with  some 
foreign  Royalty  whom  she  might  meet  abroad.  He 
wanted,  above  everything  else,  that  she  should  never 
forsake  the  land  of  her  birth.  He  contrived  that 
Prince  Ernest  Augustus  of  Cumberland  should  meet 
the  Princess  somewhere  in  Switzerland,  and  see  her 
there  under  more  easy  and  familiar  circumstances 
than  he  could  have  done  at  the  Berlin  Court.  His 
anticipations  turned  out  to  be  correct.  Princess 
Victoria  Louise  looked  upon  her  newly-found  lover 
with  lenient  eyes  and  fell  more  easily  in  love,  because 
she  imagined  her  affections  would  meet  with  con- 
siderable resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor,  whom 
she  believed  to  be  still  very  much  incensed  against 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland's  pretensions  to  the  Crown 
of  Hanover.  All  her  romantic  instincts  were  aroused  ; 
she  considered  herself,  indeed,  rather  in  the  light  of 
a  Juliet.  She  told  her  father  of  her  intentions,  and 
though  William  II.  objected,  yet  he  did  so  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  only  encouraged  her  the  more  in  her 
determination  to  become  the  wife  of  Prince  Ernest 
Augustus,    and    at    last    she    won    from    the    German 

42 


A  LONG-STANDING  FEUD  ENDS 

Emperor  a  consent  he  had  been  eager  to  give  long 
before  she  expected  it. 

The  match  was  viewed  with  undivided  enthusiasm 
by  the  German  pubhc,  but  yet  gave  rise  to  considerable 
criticism.  The  Crown  Prince  objected  to  it  ener- 
getically, and  declared  that,  at  all  events,  the  Duchy 
of  Brunswick  ought  never  to  be  restored  to  the  fiance 
of  his  sister,  who,  naturally,  was  hotly  indignant. 

Nevertheless,  the  wedding  took  place,  and  certainly 
it  was  one  of  the  most  important  from  the  political 
point  of  view  that  Royalty  had  contracted  for  half 
a  century.  Not  only  did  it  put  an  end  to  a  long- 
standing feud,  but  it  united  the  two  oldest  Protestant 
dynasties  in  Germany.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland 
himself  was  not  so  enthusiastic  about  it,  as  might 
have  been  supposed,  and  it  was  observed  that  during 
the  wedding  festivities,  he  kept  much  aloof  from  the 
Emperor.  The  Duchess,  on  the  contrary,  looked 
radiant ;  she  was  delighted  at  the  good  fortune  which 
had  befallen  her  son.  And  when  the  Duchess  of 
Brunswick  gave  birth  to  her  two  children,  the  Duke 
of  Cumberland  did  not  attend  the  christening  ceremony 
of  either,  though  he  allowed  his  wife  to  do  so,  and 
even  sent  a  handsome  present  to  his  daughter-in-law. 
No  matter  what  had  happened,  the  old  Duke  could 
not  bring  himself  to  look  with  favour  upon  the  usurpers 
of  his  birthright,  or  to  consider  the  possession  of  the 
Duchy  of  Brunswick  by  his  son  as  a  sufficient  com- 
pensation for  the  lost  crown  of  Hanover. 

Among  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  many  Royal 
and  Serene  Highnesses  with  which  Germany  abounds, 

43 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

there  is  a  widespread  ambition  to  become  united  to 
members  of  the  Russian  Imperial  Family.  The  aspira- 
tions of  the  "  petitesses  d'Allemagne "  were  always  in 
that  direction,  because  of  the  special  privileges  enjoyed 
by  the  grand  duchesses  of  Russia  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  princes  of  Germany  dreamed  of  the  lavish  dowries 
which  would  come  under  their  control  were  they  to 
wed  a  Russian  princess.  This  appetite  for  Russian 
marriages  reminds  me  of  an  amusing  anecdote  which 
was  circulated  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  war. 
It  was  related  that  a  certain  German  princess,  who 
boasted  of  some  six  or  seven  daughters,  when  she  heard 
that  the  German  Emperor  had  sent  an  ultimatum  to 
Russia,  exclaimed  :  "  How  could  he  do  such  a  thing  ? 
It  is  perfectly  monstrous  ;  we  shall  never  now  be  able 
to  marry  our  girls  to  a  grand  duke  !  "  I  do  not  vouch 
for  the  accuracy  of  this  story  ;  but,  true  or  not,  it 
expresses  perfectly  the  feelings  of  the  majority  of 
German  princesses,  who  carefully  brought  up  their 
daughters  with  an  eye  on  the  possibility  of  one  day 
marrying  into  the  Russian  Imperial  family. 

This  wish  to  become  allied  to  the  Romanoffs  was 
shared  to  a  certain  degree  by  the  Emperor  William 
himself,  who  would  not  have  felt  sorry  to  become  the 
father-in-law  of  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  Tsar.  He 
had  to  abandon  the  idea,  however  ;  and  perhaps  this 
had  something  to  do  with  his  animosity  against  the 
Emperor  Nicholas  and  the  Empress  Alexandra,  of 
whom  he  had  made  such  a  fuss  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage,  when  he  had  still  hoped  by  her  influence  to 
draw  Russia  away  from  France. 

44 


1 


BERLIN  IS  DISAPPOINTED 

It  is  pretty  certain  that  once  the  war  is  over,  it 
will  be  extremely  difficult  for  German  Royalties  to 
marry  outside  their  own  country,  and  this  will  most 
certainly  exercise  some  influence  on  the  fate  of  the 
girls  of  Royal  origin  and  Teuton  blood.  Almost  cer- 
tainly they  will  find  themselves  compelled  to  look  for 
husbands  among  common  mortals,  and  this  will  not 
be  easy,  as  they  are  mostly  endowed  with  insufficient 
wealth  and  overwhelming  pretensions.  The  dowry  of 
a  German  princess  is  seldom  more  than  modest. 
For  instance,  when  the  daughters  of  the  late  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  of  Prussia  were  married,  they  re- 
ceived ten  thousand  pounds  as  a  wedding  portion  from 
the  State,  and  the  same  thing  happened  with  the 
sisters  of  the  present  Emperor.  The  latter,  however, 
had  inherited  their  father's  private  fortune ;  or,  at 
least,  what  the  Emperor  Frederick  had  been  able  to 
leave  out  of  the  Crown  fidei-commissum,  the  revenues  of 
which  he  enjoyed  for  such  a  short  time.  The  Empress 
Victoria,  too,  was  rich,  owing  to  the  generosity  of  the 
old  Duchess  of  Galliera  ;  and  her  daughters  were  con- 
sidered to  be  very  well  dowered  brides.  The  question 
of  their  marriage  was  therefore  a  relatively  easy 
problem,  though  most  intense  disappointment  was 
felt  in  Berlin  when  the  then  heir  to  the  Russian  throne 
could  not  be  induced  to  propose  to  the  youngest  of 
these  girls,  the  Princess  Margaret,  or  "Mossie,"  as  she 
was  called  in  her  family  circle.  Strenuous  efforts  had 
been  made  to  this  end,  but  the  Empress  of  Russia — 
whose  Danish  origin  and  sympathies  were  not  in  favour 
of  Prussia,  who  had  treated  her  own  country  so  badly 

45 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

— set  herself  resolutely  against  the  idea,  and  the  Em- 
peror William  had  to  console  himself  by  arranging  the 
betrothal  of  the  Princess  Sophy  of  Prussia,  his  third 
sister,  with  the  Crown  Prince  of  Greece,  in  the  hope 
that  the  influence  she  would  naturally  come  to  ex- 
ercise in  the  course  of  time  at  Athens  might  prove 
beneficial  to  German  interests  in  the  East.  The 
Princess  Mossie  married  a  Prince  of  Hesse,  by  whom 
she  had  six  boys,  and  as  he  lived  quite  near  to  the 
Castle  of  Cronberg,  where  her  mother,  the  Empress 
Victoria,  resided,  she  saw  much  more  of  the  latter 
than  did  her  other  sisters,  and  finally  inherited  most  of 
her  wealth,  together  with  that  splendid  residence. 
But  neither  she  nor  her  two  other  sisters.  Princess 
Charlotte  of  Meiningen  and  Princess  Victoria  of  Lippe, 
made  brilliant  marriages,  and  they  had  to  content 
themselves   with   very   inferior   positions. 

My  reference  to  inferior  marriages  reminds  me  of 
the  two  sisters  of  the  present  Grand  Duke  of  Meck- 
lenburg-Strelitz,  who  were  mentioned  at  one  time 
as  possible  brides  for  the  sons  of  the  Emperor  William. 
They  were  pretty  girls,  and  might  have  made  excellent 
matches,  but  the  elder  one,  the  Princess  Marie,  for 
reasons  it  is  better  not  to  enter  into  here,  married 
a  Frenchman,  the  Comte  de  Jametel,  from  whom 
she  obtained  a  divorce  a  few  years  ago.  Now  she  is 
remarried  to  a  Prince  of  Lippe,  as  poor  as  he  is  proud, 
and  seems  to  get  on  very  well  with  him  ;  or,  at  least, 
as  well  as  it  is  possible  under  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances that  made  her  position  so  very  delicate  at  the 
time  she  married  the  Comte  de  Jametel. 

46 


THREE  DESIRABLE  PRINCESSES 

As  for  her  younger  sister,  the  Princess  Jutta,  she 
was  taken  pity  upon  by  a  cousin  of  her  father,  good 
and  kind  Princess  Hel^ne  of  Saxe-Altenburg,  the 
daughter  of  the  Grand  Duchess  Catherine  of  Russia. 
Princess  Helene  took  her  to  Petersburg,  where  she 
tried  to  find  a  husband  for  her  ;  an  effort  in  which  she 
succeeded,  because  ultimately  a  marriage  was  arranged 
for  her  with  the  eldest  son  of  the  King  of  Montenegro. 
I  shall  have  something  to  say  about  her  later  on. 

There  were,  however,  among  German  marriageable 
princesses  three  young  ladies,  who,  by  reason  of  their 
good  looks  and  their  large  dowries,  were  the  cynosure 
of  all  eyes  in  the  Royal  marriage  market  of  the 
"  glorious  Fatherland."  They  were  the  daughters  of 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland  and  of  the  Princess  Thyra 
of  Denmark,  his  consort.  It  is  true  that  their  father 
was  not  in  possession  of  the  throne  or  of  the  fortune 
to  which  he  had  been  born,  but  still  he  could  boast 
of  being  many  times  a  millionaire,  and  moreover 
was  kin  to  Queen  Alexandra  of  England  and  to  the 
Empress  Dowager  of  Russia.  This  relationship  made 
them  the  more  attractive  to  the  many  would-be  suitors 
who  gathered  around  them  in  the  hope  of  attracting 
their  fancy  and  of  winning  their  affections.  The 
eldest,  the  Princess  Marie,  was  very  quickly  married 
to  Prince  Maximilian  of  Baden,  the  future  Sovereign 
of  that  Duchy,  and  went  to  live  at  Karlsruhe,  where 
she  soon  made  herself  extremely  popular  ;  whilst  the 
youngest,  Princess  Alexandra,  became  in  due  course 
the  wife  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 
the   son   of  the   Grand   Duchess   Anastasia   of  Russia. 

47 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

The  Grand  Duke  was  young,  handsome,  enormously 
rich,  and  the  Castle  of  Sehwerin,  where  he  took  his  wife 
after  their  marriage,  was  one  of  the  most  splendid 
Royal  residences  in  Germany.  The  new  Grand  Duchess 
soon  won  the  golden  opinions  of  her  own  subjects, 
and  was  intensely  popular  everywhere  she  went.  The 
Emperor  William,  who  at  that  time  was  already 
nursing  the  dream  of  a  Cumberland  marriage  for  his 
daughter,  invited  the  Grand  Ducal  couple  to  Berlin, 
and  tried  to  make  himself  very  pleasant  to  the  bride, 
who  however  did  not  respond ;  indeed,  she  showed 
him  openly  that  she  was  strongly  prejudiced  against  him. 
In  time,  however,  her  opinion  changed,  and,  under 
the  influence  of  her  surroundings,  she  became  also 
more  German  in  thought ;  of  late,  indeed,  the  Grand 
Duchess  of  Mecklenburg- Sehwerin  is  considered  one 
of  the  staunchest  admirers  of  that  German  "  kultur  " 
to  which  we  owe  the  ruthless  destruction  of  so  many 
relics  of  the  past  by  the  hordes  of  William  II.,  a 
destruction  wrought  deliberately  and  under  no  neces- 
sity whatever  beyond  the  gratification  of  their  own 
wicked  instincts. 

The  Grand  Duchess  Alexandra  and  her  sister-in- 
law,  the  Crown  Princess  Cecile,  have  shown  themselves 
most  violent  in  the  feelings  of  hatred  which  they  have 
exhibited  toward  the  enemies  of  their  adopted  countries. 

As  for  the  third  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land, the  Princess  Olga,  she  is  still  unmarried,  although 
she  is  now  thirty.  Her  sole  reason  for  refusing  many 
brilliant  offers  is  that  she  does  not  care  to  leave  her 
mother   alone,   and  prefers   her  position   as  the  spoilt 

48 


PRINCESS  FREDERICA  OF  HANOVER 

daughter  of  fond  parents  to  a  gamble  in  the  marriage 
market.  It  is  rumoured  that  she  and  her  father  are 
the  only  recalcitrant  members  of  the  Cumberland 
family  who  refuse  to  bow  down  before  the  grandeur  of 
Prussia. 

The  Duke  of  Cumberland  has  one  sister,  the  accom- 
plished and  charming  Princess  Frederica  of  Hanover, 
whose   marriage  was   quite  a  romance.     She  was  one 
of  the  first  of  the  German  Royal  princesses  to  wed  a 
commoner.     She   became   betrothed  to  the   Baron    de 
Pawel-Rammingen,    a    fact    which    created    a    terrible 
scandal    when   first   it   became   known   to   her   family. 
Her  brother  was  particularly  excited,   and  it  is  even 
probable  that  she  would  never  have  been  able  to  carry 
her  wishes  through  had  it  not  been  for  Queen  Victoria, 
who,  ever  kind  in  regard  to  her  relatives,  came  to  her 
help.     She  supported  the  Princess,  who  was  a  favourite 
of  hers,  and  allowed  her  to  get  married  at  Windsor, 
even  consenting  to  grace  the  ceremony  by  her  presence. 
Rumour  added  that  the  Queen  contributed  in  a  most 
generous    manner    to    the    welfare    of    the    Princess 
Frederica,  in  order  to  make  up  for  what  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland  refused  to  give  to  his  sister,  to  whom  he 
granted  a  dowry  which  was  quite  insufficient  for  her  to 
live  upon.     The  Princess  Frederica  lives  for  most  of  the 
year  at  Biarritz,  where  she  has  built  for  herself  a  lovely 
villa,   and  where  she  has  made  herself  most  popular- 
Her   marriage    has    turned  out  very  happily,  and   she 
has  never  had  occasion  to  repent  the  choice  she  made, 
nor  to  regret    the    energy  she    displayed   in   resisting 
all  opposition  to  it. 

E  49 


CHAPTER    III 
THE   ROMANOFFS 

IN  Royal  circles  it  is  well  known  that  Russian  grand 
dukes  and  grand  duchesses  are  always  considered  as 
the  most  eligible  parties  in  the  Royal  marriage  markets 
of  Europe.  There  was  not  one  German  sovereign 
who  did  not  look  longingly  toward  Petersburg  when 
thinking  about  the  future  of  his  children.  Until  the 
wedding  of  the  late  Tsar  with  the  Princess  Dagmar 
of  Denmark,  it  had  been  a  tradition  at  the  Court  of 
the  Romanoffs  that  they  had  to  seek  their  wives  in 
Germany,  where  princesses  were  supposed  to  be  ready 
at  any  moment  to  change  their  religion,  whenever 
there  was  an  advantageous  match  in  prospect. 

At  the  beginning  of,  and  indeed  all  through,  the  last 
century,  down  to  the  death  of  the  old  Emperor  William 
I.,  there  had  existed  a  very  close  intimacy  between  the 
Hohenzollerns  and  the  Russian  Imperial  Family,  and 
the  influence  of  the  Prussian  House  was  a  considerable 
factor  in  the  marriages  of  the  Romanoffs.  When,  how- 
ever, the  question  arose  of  the  marriage  of  the  heir  to 
the  Russian  Throne,  political  reasons  existed  which 
prevented  him  from  asking  the  opinion  of  his  uncle  in 
Berlin,  and  it  was  decided  to  allow  the  young  Grand 
Duke,  by  travel,  to  find  out  for  himself  whether  he 

50 


A  LOVE  PILGRIMAGE 

could  meet  with  a  princess  whom  he  would  think 
beautiful  enough,  and  clever  enough,  to  be  worthy  of 
becoming  the  Tsarina. 

The  Tsarevitch  was  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas 
Alexandrovitch,  that  handsome  and  clever  man,  who 
was  to  die  so  prematurely,  and  to  leave  behind  him 
the  reputation  of  having  been  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished men  of  his  generation.  He  had  been  brought 
up  with  the  utmost  care  by  a  fond  mother,  who  loved 
him  so  intensely  that  she  was  heard  to  say  that  in 
taking  him  away  from  her  God  had  punished  her  for 
having  preferred  him  to  her  other  children.  Apart 
from  the  Grand  Duke's  unique  position,  his  personality 
was  bound  to  appeal  to  the  heart  of  every  young  girl 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Morally,  intellectually, 
and  physically  he  was  one  of  the  most  attractive  per- 
sonages imaginable,  and  it  is  little  wonder  that  the 
hopes  of  the  whole  of  Europe,  from  the  matrimonial 
point  of  view,  were  centred  in  him,  and  that  specula- 
tions as  to  who  would  be  the  lucky  one  to  win  him 
were  rife  at  every  Court  that  could  boast  a  princess 
old  enough  to  aspire  to  the  honour  of  becoming  his 
consort. 

The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  stayed  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time  at  Stuttgart,  on  a  visit  to  his  aunt, 
the  Queen  of  Wiirtemberg,  who  before  her  marriage 
was  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga  Nicolaievna  of  Russia, 
and  the  sister  of  Alexander  II.  Whilst  there  he  had 
opportunity  to  meet  a  good  many  girls  whose  birth 
allowed  them  to  hope  that  he  might  find  among  them 
one  nice  enough  to  please  him.     The  Queen  herself, 

51 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

though  she  had  remained  very  Russian  in  her  tastes 
and  sympathies,  had  nevertheless  felt  the  influence 
of  the  people  among  whom  she  lived,  and  she  also 
cherished  the  desire  that  her  nephew  should  take  to 
himself  a  German  bride.  It  is  impossible  to  say  what 
might  have  happened  had  not  Fate  brought  the  Grand 
Duke  into  the  presence  of  the  lovely  Princess  Dagmar 
of  Denmark,  whose  eldest  sister  had  just  about  that 
time  become  engaged  to  the  then  Prince  of  Wales. 
The  reputation  of  the  Princess  Dagmar  for  loveliness, 
charm  of  manner,  sweetness  of  disposition,  and  other 
qualities  had  already  travelled  far  and  wide  all  over 
Europe.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that 
from  the  first  moment  he  met  her  the  Grand  Duke  fell 
in  love,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  world  heard 
that  Russia  was  to  have  a  Danish  princess  as  its  future 
Empress. 

Berlin  did  not  like  it.  The  Emperor  William  I. 
— then  still  King  William — went  so  far  as  to  remon- 
strate with  his  nephew  the  Tsar,  and  to  point  out  to 
him  the  disadvantages  that  in  his  eyes  at  least  such 
a  marriage  presented,  the  principal  of  which  was 
that  the  Danish  Royal  Family  was  supposed  to  har- 
bour most  anti-Prussian  feelings,  and  that  it  might 
happen  that  the  influence  of  the  Princess  Dagmar 
would  be  directed  against  Prussia  in  particular,  and 
the  interests  of  Germany  in  general.  All  his  arguments, 
however,  proved  of  no  avail,  and  neither  the  Tsar  nor 
his  son  allowed  themselves  to  be  persuaded  as  to  the 
disadvantages  of  a  union  which  was  entirely  one  of 
affection,  because  the  Grand  Duke  and  his  bride  were 

52 


PRINCESS  DAGMAR'S  GRIEF 

as  much  in  love  with  each  other  as  it  was  possible 
to  be.  A  date  for  the  wedding  was  fixed,  and  the 
Princess  began  to  take  lessons  in  the  Russian  language, 
and  also  to  be  instructed  into  the  intricacies  of  the 
Greek  faith  by  the  confessor  of  the  Empress,  Father 
Bajanoff ;  when  suddenly  the  Grand  Duke,  who  for 
the  last  eighteen  months  or  so  had  been  ailing,  became 
dangerously  ill,  and  soon  the  doctors  pronounced  his 
condition  to  be  entirely  beyond  any  remedies  that 
science  could  suggest. 

A  few  short  months  passed  away,  and  with  it  the 
useful  and  beloved  life  of  the  heir  to  the  great  Tsar. 
On  his  deathbed  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  put  the 
trembling  hand  of  his  weeping  fiancee  into  that  of  his 
brother,  and  begged  her  to  marry  him  for  his  sake, 
adding  that  Alexander  was  the  only  being  upon  earth 
to  whom  he  would  have  consented  to  surrender  that 
cherished  being.  After  some  months  had  gone  by,  and 
the  Princess  Dagmar's  first  grief  had  lost  something 
of  its  intensity,  she  consented  to  accept  her  new  destiny, 
and  one  day  in  September  saw  her  make  her  solemn 
and  official  entry  into  the  Russian  capital  as  the  future 
wife  of  the  heir  to  the  Crown  of  the  Romanoffs. 

It  is  not  for  me  here  to  say  what  her  marriage  has 
been,  nor  all  the  blessings  which  it  brought  to  her 
husband  and  to  the  Imperial  Family,  as  well  as  to 
the  whole  of  the  vast  Russian  Empire  over  which 
she  was  to  reign  for  such  a  short  time.  No  consort 
of  a  sovereign  has  ever  been  more  popular.  She 
brought  into  the  Court  over  which  she  presided  an 
atmosphere  of  purity,   of  moral  beauty,   which  made 

53 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

it  absolutely  different  from  any  other  in  Europe.  And 
she  succeeded  in  shaking  the  German  influence  which 
up  to  her  time  had  prevailed  at  Petersburg,  and  to 
demonstrate  to  her  husband  that  Russia  was  great 
enough  and  big  enough  to  be  able  to  develop  itself 
by  its  own  strength  and  its  own  resources  without 
being  obliged  to  seek  her  inspirations  in  Berlin.  She 
disliked  the  Hohenzollerns,  and  made  no  secret  of  this 
feeling  ;  and  it  was  said  at  the  time  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War  of  1870  that,  had  it  depended  upon  her, 
France  would  not  have  been  crushed  so  completely 
as  was  the  case,  but  that  Russian  interference  would 
have  put  a  stop  to  Hohenzollern  cupidity.  This  slender, 
delicate  woman  had  more  political  sagacity  than  many 
of  the  ministers  of  her  father-in-law,  and,  married  as 
she  was  to  a  man  of  strong  character  and  great  common 
sense,  it  is  no  wonder  that  during  their  reign  Russia 
reached  a  foremost  position,  and  after  the  retirement 
of  Prince  Bismarck  from  the  sphere  of  active  politics, 
became  the  paramount  Continental  power.  The  mar- 
riage of  Alexander  III.  with  the  Princess  Dagmar  not 
only  sounded  the  knell  of  German  influence  in  Russia  ; 
it  also  laid  the  seeds  of  the  present  Anglo-Russian 
understanding,  which,  owing  to  the  circumstance  that 
the  consort  of  King  Edward  VII.  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  was  the  sister  of  the  Empress  of  Russia, 
and  that  a  close  intimacy  united  these  two  Royal 
ladies,  became  in  time  an  accomplished  fact,  a  thing 
that  no  statesman  would  ever  have  believed  possible 
after  the  Crimean  War.  It  is  very  much  to  be  doubted 
whether,  under  different  circumstances,  such  an  alliance 

54 


RUSSIA  SHAKES  OFF  GERMANY 

could  have  been  concluded,  as  the  misunderstandings 
and  prejudices  which  existed  between  the  two  nations 
were  of  too  deep  a  nature  to  be  so  easily  removed. 

France  also  found  a  warm  friend  in  the  consort  of 
Alexander  III.,  whose  subtle  mind  and  keen  intelli- 
gence knew  how  to  appreciate  the  many  beautiful 
traits  in  the  French  character.  She  was  an  admirer 
of  serious  French  literature,  such  as  Taine  and  other 
historians  wrote,  and  she  kept  herself  Avonderfully  well 
informed  as  to  the  progress  of  French  science.  Empress 
Marie  hated  hypocrisy,  and  instinctively  knew  when- 
ever it  manifested  itself ;  she  therefore  applied  herself 
with  all  the  energy  which  she  possessed  to  lead  Russia 
along  a  path  entirely  different  from  the  one  pursued 
by  Germany. 

Despite  the  pronounced  views  of  the  Empress, 
Russian  grand  dukes  went  on  marrying  German 
princesses,  though  it  must  be  said  to  their  honour  the 
princesses  did  not  seek  to  make  German  influence 
prevail  at  Petersburg.  But  when  arose  the  question 
of  finding  a  suitable  wife  for  the  eldest  son  and  heir 
of  Alexander  III.  and  Marie  Feodorovna,  one  had 
perforce  to  be  sought  for  in  Germany,  as  there  was 
none  eligible  anywhere  else.  The  eldest  daughter  of 
the  King  and  Queen  of  Greece  had  married  the  Grand 
Duke  Paul  of  Russia,  and  the  second  daughter  was 
already  engaged  to  the  Grand  Duke  George  ;  whilst 
the  fact  that  British  law  objected  to  an  English  Royal 
princess  changing  her  religion,  and  furthermore,  the 
near  relationship  which  existed  between  the  children 
of  the  then  Prince  and  Princess  of    Wales  with  those 

55 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

of  Alexander  III.  rendered  out  of  the  question  any 
union  in  that  direction.  Catholic  princesses  were  also 
considered  impossible  ;  though  at  one  time  there  was 
much  talk  about  the  likelihood  of  a  match  between 
the  Grand  Duke  Tsarevitch  and  the  second  daughter 
of  the  Comte  de  Paris,  the  lovely  Princess  Helene  of 
Orleans,  The  Times  even  announcing  it  one  day  as 
an  accomplished  fact.  That  marriage,  had  it  ever 
taken  place,  would  undoubtedly  have  been  an  event 
of  uncommon  magnitude ;  and  there  were  many 
politicians  in  France  who  tried  by  every  means  in  their 
power  to  bring  it  about.  But  at  the  last  moment  the 
influence  of  the  Jesuits  prevailed,  and  the  Princess 
absolutely  refused  to  adopt  the  Greek  faith,  which 
was  an  essential  condition  to  her  marriage.  The 
Emperor  William  II.  then  came  forward  again,  and 
caused  the  Russian  Court  to  be  sounded  in  a  diplo- 
matic manner  as  to  the  possibility  of  his  youngest 
sister  being  chosen  as  a  bride  for  the  Tsarevitch. 
Already  a  Prussian  princess  had  worn  the  Crown  of 
All  the  Russias,  for  the  consort  of  Nicholas  I.  was 
the  sister  of  the  old  Emperor  William  I.  Princess 
Margaret,  the  favourite  daughter  of  the  Empress 
Frederick,  was  undoubtedly  possessed  with  many  brilliant 
qualities,  and  it  was  said  that  when  the  young  Grand 
Duke  saw  her,  he  had  been  very  much  attracted  by 
her  charming  manners  and  pleasant  conversation ; 
whether  this  is  true  or  not,  no  one  has  ever  been  able 
find  out.  When  the  idea  was  submitted  to  the  Empress 
Marie,  she  protested  against  it  most  energeLically,  and 
declared  that  on  no  account  would  she  consent  to  an 

56 


A  POSSIBLE   BRIDE 

alliance  which  would  create  a  close  family  relationship 
between  the  Imperial  House  and  the  domineering 
monarch  who  ruled  over  the  destinies  of  the  German 
Empire. 

At  this  juncture  it  was  remembered  that  the  popular 
consort  of  the  Grand  Duke  Sergius,  the  Grand  Duchess 
Elizabeth  Feodorovna,  had  a  sister,  who  might  fulfil 
the  necessary  conditions  which  were  considered  in- 
dispensable in  a  bride  for  the  heir  to  the  Russian 
Throne. 

Princess  Alix  of  Hesse  possessed  one  advantage  that 
was,  at  that  period,  esteemed  considerable  by  Russian 
higher  circles  of  society  :  she  was  the  granddaughter 
of  Queen  Victoria,  with  whom  she  spent  much  of  her 
time.  She  was  credited  with  English  tastes,  an  English 
love  for  her  home,  and  English  common  sense.  She 
had  been  in  Petersburg  a  few  years  before,  on  a  visit 
to  the  Grand  Duchess  Elizabeth,  and  though  quite  young 
at  the  time,  and  not  by  any  means  the  exquisitely  beau- 
tiful woman  she  was  to  become,  she  had  charmed  all 
those  whom  she  met  by  the  quiet  dignity  of  her  manners 
and  the  modesty  of  her  attitude.  The  Empress  had 
taken  to  her  at  once,  and  when  she  was  consulted  as 
to  the 'possibility  of  the  Princess  Alix  becoming  her 
daughter-in-law,  she  had  caught  at  the  idea  eagerly. 
When,  therefore,  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  Alex- 
androvitch  was  sent  to  Coburg  to  attend  the  nuptials 
of  his  cousin,  the  Princess  Victoria  Melita  of  Saxe- 
Coburg,  with  the  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse,  it  was  with 
the  Emperor's  permission  to  ask  for  the  hand  of  the 
latter's  sister,  should  his  impression  of  her  be  as  favour- 

57 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

able  as  it  had  been  when  he  had  seen  her  for  the  first 
time.     During  the  few  days  which  the  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas  spent  at  Coburg,  he  became  warmly  attached 
to  the  fair-haired  girl  whom  he  remembered  as  hardly 
more  than  a  child,  and  who  now  had  developed  into 
the    dazzling    beauty    of    womanhood.     He    did    not 
hesitate  long,  and   on  the  very  day  of  the  marriage  of 
the  Duchess  of  Coburg' s  daughter,  the  engagement  of 
the  Tsarevitch  with  the  Princess  Alix  of  Hesse  was 
publicly  announced.     It  was  intended  at  the  time  to 
make   the  wedding  the   occasion    of   considerable   fes- 
tivities, and  to  celebrate  it  during  the  winter  season 
in   Petersburg,    when    the   health    of  Alexander   III., 
which  had  long  been  indifferent,  suddenly  took  a  turn 
for  the  worse,  and  he  died  at  Livadia  without  having 
had  the  joy  of  seeing  his  son  and  heir  happily  married. 
The  Princess  Alix,  who  thus  was  to  occupy  at  once 
what  perhaps  was  the  most  brilliant  and  at  the  same 
time    the    most    responsible    position   in   Europe,    was 
married    solemnly    but    quite    simply,    in    the    chapel 
of  the  Winter  Palace  a  few  days  after  Alexander  III. 
had  been  laid  in  his  grave  in  the  fortress  where  Russian 
Tsars  are  buried,  and  the  young  Empress  entered  upon 
her  new   existence,   accompanied  by  the  good  wishes 
of  her   millions   of  subjects.     In   spite   of  the   many 
trials  which  crowded  upon  her  during  the  years  which 
followed  upon   it,   her  marriage   has   proved  to  be  a 
very  happy  one.     The  Emperor  and  she  are  tenderly 
attached  to  each  other,  and  no  mother  could  be  fonder 
of  her  children  than   the   Empress   Alexandra,    whose 
whole  life  is   centred  in   her    husband   and    the    four 

58 


ROYAL  SISTERS  OF  MERCY 

daughters    and    only    son  with  whom  they  have  been 
blessed. 

The  pleasures  of  Society  had  no  attraction  for  the 
young  Empress  ;  under  her  sway  the  Court  was  no  longer 
the  scene  of  the  many  festivities  which  the  Empress 
Marie  liked  to  give.     Still,  the  Court  lost  none  of  its 
dignity,  nor  was  diminished  the  splendour  which  made 
it  the  most  wonderful  Court  in  Europe.     The  Imperial 
family  were  in  the  habit,  for  years,  of  spending  a  great 
part  of  the  year  in  the  Crimea,  principally  on  account 
of  the  health  of  the  little  heir  to  the  throne,   which 
continued  delicate,  and  also  because  the  young  Grand 
Duchesses   were    so    fond    of    an    outdoor   life.      The 
Empress,    moreover,    held    the    opinion    that    it    does 
not   do  to   introduce   children  too   soon   to   scenes   of 
excitement  and   of   grandeur,  with    their    tendency  to 
give  them  an  over-exalted  idea  of  their  own  import- 
ance.     She  reared    her    daughters    with   tender   care, 
and  taught  them  to  remember  that  the  more  exalted 
was   their   own   position    the    more    it    entailed   upon 
them  the  obligation  to  think  about  others. 

This  wise  education  has  borne  its  fruits,  and  ever 
since  the  war  broke  out  the  daughters  of  the  Tsar 
have  each  given  a  bright  example  to  Russian  society 
by  the  activity  which  they  have  displayed  in  the  relief 
of  suffering.  The  two  elder  girls,  the  Grand  Duchesses 
Olga  and  Tatiana,  organised  committees  of  relief,  in 
which  they  worked  with  indefatigable  devotion  and 
with  an  energy  the  more  surprising  because  no  one 
suspected  that  young  girls  of  their  age  could  possibly 
enter  comprehendingly  into  the  details  connected  with 

59 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

such  a  work.  Apart  from  this,  they  regularly  attended 
the  hospital  which  their  mother  has  opened  at  the 
Imperial  residence  of  Tsarskoye  Selo,  and  where  she 
herself  has  fulfilled  the  duties  of  a  sister  of  charity 
with  a  touching  spirit  of  self-sacrifice. 

Of  course,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  as  soon  as 
the  Tsar's  daughters  attained  a  marriageable  age 
suitors  in  plenty  would  come  forward.  Indeed,  gossip 
has  already  been  very  busy  with  their  names,  and 
when,  just  before  the  war  broke  out,  the  King  of 
Saxony  went  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Court  of  Peters- 
burg, certain  ignorant  people  declared  that  it  was 
his  intention  to  propose  himself  as  a  husband  for 
Olga  Nicolaievna.  It  was  forgotten  that  a  Queen  of 
Saxony  must  belong  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  people  over  whom 
she  reigns  are  mostly  Protestants  ;  and  when  the 
Roumanian  Royal  Family  visited  Tsarskoye  Selo 
during  the  summer  of  1914  there  were  bets  going  on  in 
fashionable  circles  of  Petersburg  as  to  whether  the 
son  of  the  Crown  Prince  would  become  engaged  to 
the  elder  or  to  the  younger  of  the  two  Grand 
Duchesses  named. 

However,  no  announcement  followed  upon  this 
journey,  which  from  another  point  of  view  was  more 
memorable  than  the  world  knew,  because  it  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  permanent  understanding  between 
Roumania  and  Russia.  A  few  weeks  later  the  Tsar, 
accompanied  by  the  Empress  and  by  his  daughters, 
visited  the  King  and  Queen  of  Roumania  at  Constanza, 
and  it  was  verbally  arranged  that  Prince  Carol,  the 

60 


RUSSIA  AND  THE  BALKANS 

eldest  son  of  the  Crown  Prince,  would  pay  another 
visit  to  Petersburg  during  the  winter  of  1914. 

The  war  broke  out,  and  all  these  plans  came  to 
nothing  ;  but  when  peace  is  once  more  restored  to  the 
world  it  is  probable  that  the  subject  of  a  Roumanian 
marriage  for  one  of  the  Tsar's  daughters  will  be  re- 
vived. A  good  many  reasons  speak  in  favour  of  such 
an  event.  The  future  Sovereign  of  Roumania,  Prince 
Carol,  belongs  to  the  Greek  Orthodox  faith  ;  he  rules 
over  a  Slav  population,  which  has  long  aspired  to  a 
closer  union  with  Russia,  that  would  make  the 
marriage  immensely  popular  all  over  the  country. 

The  advent  of  a  Russian  Crown  Princess  would  be 
received  with  enthusiasm  and  further  consolidate  a 
dynasty  which  is  loved  by  the  people,  because  the 
present  Queen,  by  birth  an  English  princess,  is  also 
a  grandchild  of  the  late  Emperor  Alexander  II.,  and 
consequently  has  Russian  blood  in  her  veins.  From 
a  political  point  of  view,  considering  the  ambitions  of 
King  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria  in  regard  to  the  Balkans, 
it  would  have  an  immense  political  importance,  for 
the  independence  of  Roumania  would  thus  remain 
assured  by  the  certainty  of  the  protection  of  Russia. 

Spfeculation  has  been  very  active  in  suggesting 
which  of  the  two — the  Grand  Duchess  Olga  or  the 
Grand  Duchess  Tatiana — would  consent  to  accept  the 
diadem.  It  seems,  however,  from  all  that  one  hears, 
that  it  is  the  Grand  Duchess  Tatiana  whose  sympathies 
have  been  captured,  and  who  also  has  made  the 
greater  appeal  to  the  feelings  of  Prince  Carol.  Her  elder 
sister,  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga,  declared  when  still  quite 

6i 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

a  child  that  no  consideration  whatever  would  induce 
her  to  leave  Russia.  But  time  will  tell.  It  was  said 
at  one  time  that  both  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress 
would  have  liked  her  to  become  the  wife  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Dmitri  Pavlovitch,  the  only  son  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Paul  and  of  his  first  wife,  the  lovely  Princess 
Alexandra  of  Greece  ;  but  lately  it  has  been  whispered 
that  the  idea  had  been  abandoned  and  that  probabili- 
ties point  to  one  of  the  sons  of  the  Grand  Duke  Con- 
stantine  as  a  prospective  son-in-law  of  the  Tsar.  It 
would  not  be  an  impossible  thing,  by  any  means, 
especially  if  one  takes  into  consideration  the  very 
few  bridegrooms  who  will  be  eligible  in  Europe  after 
the  war. 

Perhaps  this  feeling  has  been  strengthened  lately 
owing  to  the  very  happy  marriages  made  by  the  two 
sisters  of  the  Tsar,  the  Grand  Duchesses  Xenia  and 
Olga,  who  have  both  wedded  distant  cousins,  and 
who  live  in  great  state  in  Petrograd,  where  they 
are  sincerely  liked  in  all  classes  of  society. 

To  tell  the  truth  a  foreign  marriage,  with  any  other 
than  a  prince  belonging  to  the  Greek  faith,  for  the  eldest 
daughter  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas,  would  be  most 
unpopular  at  the  present  day  in  Russia,  unless  it  were 
with  a  personage  whose  choice  is  looked  forward  to 
most  eagerly  all  over  Europe,  and  whose  entry  into 
the  Imperial  family  would  be  hailed  with  the  wildest 
bursts  of  enthusiasm  all  over  the  Empire  of  the 
Romanoffs  :    I  mean  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

In  mentioning  this  name,  I  am  giving  shape  to 
an  unexpressed  hope  of  all  the  intelligent  classes  of 

62 


THE  ROYAL   FAMILY    OF   RUSSIA 


A  PROPHETIC  MINISTER 

Russian  society,  who,  if  they  were  asked  to  give  their 
opinion,  would  say  without  hesitation  that  such  a 
union  would  serve  the  best  interests  of  both  nations, 
and  that  it  would  mean  the  best  possible  guarantee 
for  the  peace  of  the  world.  To  see  a  Russian  princess 
raised  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain  would  not  only 
flatter  the  Russian  people,  it  would  also  consolidate 
the  friendship  which  is  being  cemented  by  the 
blood  spilt  in  common  on  so  many  battlefields.  In 
order  to  achieve  this  result,  even  the  religious  ques- 
tion would  take  a  secondary  place,  and  Holy  Russia 
would  look  through  her  fingers  if  one  of  the  daughters 
of  its  Tsar  would  consent  to  embrace  the  Anglican 
faith  after  her  marriage  to  the  heir  to  the  English 
Crown. 

There  was  also  another  suitor  who,  if  rumour  is 
correct,  would  have  given  much  to  stand  a  chance  of 
being  accepted  by  this  desirable  Grand  Duchess.  It 
was  Prince  Alexander  of  Servia.  He  also  visited 
Petersburg,  but  failed  to  make  an  impression.  How- 
ever, he  was  wise  enough  to  observe  that  he  stood  no 
chance,  and  to  retire  before  exposing  himself  to  a 
refusal. 

It  \vas  reported  at  the  time  that  wise  M.  Pashitch, 
the  Servian  Prime  Minister,  who  accompanied  him, 
consoled  him  with  the  comment  that  nothing  was 
lost,  because  after  all  the  Tsar  had  four  daughters, 
and  that  the  younger  ones  might  look  upon  things 
with  different  eyes  than  their  elders  had  done.  It 
might  easily  be  that  the  experienced  old  statesman 
was  prophetic  in  making  such  a  remark,  because  it  is 

63 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

certain  that  the  heroic  conduct  of  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Servia  during  the  whole  campaign  is  well  capable 
of  impressing  young  and  ardent  minds,  and  will  dis- 
pose them  to  look  upon  him  with  feelings  of  admira- 
tion, that  may  easily  develop  into  warmer  senti- 
ments. 

The  daughters  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  are  per- 
haps the  greatest  matches  in  Europe  at  the  present 
moment,  if  one  takes  into  consideration  the  immense 
fortunes  which  they  will  bring  to  their  husbands,  in 
addition  to  their  position,  personal  charm,  and  prestige. 

But  in  the  Royal  marriage  market  they  count  but 
little  in  comparison  with  their  brother,  the  little  Grand 
Duke  Alexis,  about  whose  future  wife  people  are  talking 
already,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  is  but  eleven 
years  old  and  in  very  delicate  health.  Upon  him  rest 
the  hopes  of  Holy  Russia,  and  for  him  she  prays  every 
day  in  her  numerous  churches  and  shrines.  He  is  a 
precocious,  most  intelligent  child,  the  idolised  son  of 
fond  parents,  who  for  ten  years  waited  in  vain  for  the 
birth  of  a  longed-for  heir.  Handsome,  bright,  clever, 
and  wilful,  he  is,  because  of  his  physical  weakness,  the 
object  of  the  most  tender  solicitude  on  the  part  of 
his  father  and  mother,  and  it  is  probable  that  the 
Empress  Alexandra  is  already  wondering  who  will  be 
lucky  enough  to  win  him  for  a  husband  when  the  time 
comes  for  him  to  look  about  for  a  bride.  That  he  will 
marry  young  is  certain,  because,  being  an  only  son,  it 
is  most  essential  that  the  succession  to  the  Throne 
should  be  assured  in  the  direct  line.  It  is  but  natural, 
therefore,  that  even  so  early  this  important  question 

64 


LOOKING  AHEAD 

should  be  discussed  both  in  private  and  in  official 
circles.  Russia  would  decidedly  object  to  a  German 
princess,  even  if  it  were  likely  the  Romanoffs  would 
turn  their  thoughts  that  way.  A  Spanish  Infanta  is 
out  of  the  question.  There  remains,  therefore,  few 
others.  The  little  Princess  Ingrid,  the  daughter  of 
the  Crown  Prince  and  Princess  of  Sweden,  is  one.  She 
is  about  five  years  old  at  present.  Or  maybe  one  of 
her  cousins,  the  daughters  of  Prince  Charles  and  of 
Princess  Ingeborg,  may  be  chosen.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  Princess  Ingeborg  belongs  to  the 
reigning  house  of  Denmark,  and  that  Court  has  still 
much  to  say  in  Russian  Court  circles,  and  will  have 
so  long  as  the  Dowager  Empress  lives.  Perhaps  the 
eyes  of  Nicholas  II.  may  turn  toward  one  of  the  little 
Greek  princesses,  of  whom  there  are  plenty,  and  who, 
through  their  Russian  relationship,  offer  consider- 
able advantages.  There  are  nine  of  them,  two  daugh- 
ters of  the  King,  and  their  cousins,  the  children  of 
Prince  Nicolas  and  of  Prince  Andrew,  all  of  whom 
promise  to  inherit  the  good  looks  of  their  respective 
mothers. 

Failing  the  little  Tsarevitch,  the  Crown  would  revert 
to  the*  Grand  Duke  Cyril,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Grand 
Duchess  Vladimir,  that  ambitious  and  clever  princess, 
who  has  made  for  herself  such  an  exclusive  position  at 
the  Russian  Court.  He  married  under  romantic  cir- 
cumstances his  cousin,  the  divorced  Grand  Duchess  of 
Hesse,  and  was  for  some  time  in  disgrace  for  having  done 
so,  until  his  father,  who  was  still  alive,  went  to  the 
Tsar,  and,  it  is  said,  spoke  so  strongly  to  him  about 
F  65 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

what  he  considered  was  an  injustice,  that  he  got  the 
Grand  Duke  Cyril  restored  to  Imperial  favour,  and  even 
allowed  to  return  to  Russia.  He  is  a  very  hand- 
some man,  but  ever  since  the  terrible  accident  of  the 
Petropavlovskf  when  he  was  blown  up  with  the  ship, 
together  with  Admiral  Makaroff,  during  the  Japanese 
War,  and  only  escaped  by  a  miracle,  he  has  been 
in  very  poor  health.  He  has  two  daughters,  but  no 
son.  His  wife  is  a  beautiful  and  amiable  woman, 
whose  name,  Victoria,  sounds  strangely  to  Russian 
ears  ;  indeed,  it  was  only  after  her  conversion  to  the 
Greek  faith  that  she  was  allowed,  by  special  per- 
mission of  the  Emperor,  to  use  that  name.  The 
Emperor  told  her  that  he  liked  the  name,  because  it 
reminded  him  of  Queen  Victoria,  who  had  been  so 
good  and  so  kind  to  him  when  he  had  visited  her, 
first  when  engaged  to  her  granddaughter,  and  later 
on,  when  he  had  paid  his  respects  to  her,  after  his 
accession  to  the  throne.  The  Grand  Duchess  Victoria 
has  made  herself  liked  among  Russians,  and  she  is  per- 
haps the  one  most  seen  in  Society,  of  which  she  is  very 
fond.  Lately  she  has  also  come  forward  as  an  active 
worker  in  the  Red  Cross,  and  she  has  more  than  once 
travelled  with  a  hospital  train  to  and  from  the  frontier, 
bringing  wounded  soldiers  to  Petrograd,  as  the  Russian 
capital  is  called  to-day. 

There  is  a  curious  story  related  about  the  Grand 
Duchess  Victoria.  On  the  day  when  the  Peiropavlovsk 
went  down  with  its  load  of  brave  men  she  was  stay- 
ing with  her  mother,  the  Dowager  Duchess  of  Coburg, 
and   she  came   down   to   breakfast   with    a   pale  and 

66 


A  FATEFUL  VISION 

anxious  face,  which  bore  but  too  evident  traces  of 
tears.  When  asked  what  was  the  matter  she  related 
blushingly  and  timidly  that  she  had  had  a  terrible 
vision,  and  had  seen  her  cousin  Cyril — whom  at  that 
time  she  had  not  yet  married — wrestling  in  the  ocean 
and  drowned  in  its  cold  waves.  Her  mother  laughed 
at  her,  and  told  her  that  she  must  not  be  supersti- 
tious ;  but  the  Princess  was  so  troubled  and  so  terri- 
fied, that  she  forthwith  sent  a  telegram  to  the  Grand 
Duchess  Vladimir,  asking  her  for  news.  A  few  hours 
later  she  learned  that  the  Grand  Duke  had  gone 
down  with  the  fated  ship  and  had  only  been  saved 
by  a  miracle.  Already  at  that  time  she  was  sup- 
posed to  be  deeply  attached  to  this  favourite  cousin 
of  hers,  and  after  the  war  they  were  married  very 
quietly  at  Tegernsee,  near  Munich,  in  the  presence  of 
the  Dowager  Duchess  of  Coburg,  the  mother  of  the 
Princess. 

The  Grand  Duchess  Vladimir  has  two  other  sons, 
the  Grand  Dukes  Boris  and  Andrew.  The  former  is  a 
dashing  young  man,  very  much  liked  by  the  Emperor, 
and  most  popular  in  Petrograd  society.  He  is  still  a 
bachelor,  much  to  the  despair  of  many  a  fair  lady,  and 
has  more  than  once  been  heard  to  declare  that  he 
did  not  intend  marrying  for  a  considerable  number  of 
years.  The  secret  wish  of  his  mother  would  be  to  see 
him  married  to  the  second  daughter  of  the  Princess 
Royal  of  England,  the  Princess  Maud  of  Fife  ;  but 
whether  this  will  ever  happen  I  am  not  in  a  position 
to  say.  As  for  the  Grand  Duke  Andrew,  he  is  sup- 
posed to  be  consumptive,  and  spends  his  winters  at 

67 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

St.  Moritz,  where  he  takes  a  keen  interest  in  winter 
sports. 

When  talking  about  the  eligible  brides  of  the  Russian 
Imperial  Family  I  have  not  mentioned  yet  the  young 
Grand  Duchess  Marie  Pavlovna,  who  was  married  to 
Prince  William  of  Sweden,  and  who  divorced  him  in 
the  early  part  of  1914.  She  has  returned  to  Petro- 
grad  and  delights  in  being  in  her  native  country  once 
more.  She  never  got  used  to  the  snows  and  the  dull- 
ness of  Stockholm,  which  she  intensely  disliked,  even 
though  Society  adored  her,  and  speaks  to  this  day  of 
her  charming  manners,  forgetting  the  undoubted  ex- 
travagances in  which  she  indulged,  and  attributing 
them  to  her  youth  and  inexperience.  The  fact  is,  that 
she  was  but  a  child,  who  had  been  brought  up  far  too 
strictly  by  her  aunt,  the  Grand  Duchess  Elisabeth, 
and  who,  when  she  found  herself  free  to  do  what  she 
liked,  abused  the  permission,  and  amused  herself  with 
an  energy  which  at  last  brought  about  a  separation, 
and  later  on  a  divorce,  in  which  neither  was  to  blame, 
and  which  proceeded  entirely  from  incompatibility  of 
temper. 

When  she  returned  home  there  were  some  rumours 
that  she  intended  to  marry  again,  but  so  far  nothing 
more  has  been  heard  of  it.  When  the  war  broke  out 
the  Grand  Duchess  was  one  of  the  first  to  enrol  under 
the  banner  of  the  Red  Cross,  in  connection  with 
which  she  is  working  so  devotedly. 

It  seems  that  when  she  returned  to  Petersburg, 
the  Dowager  Empress  thought  it  her  duty  to  speak 
seriously  to  her,  and  to  tell  her  that  she  ought  to  think 

68 


GRAND  DUCHESS  MARIE  PAVLOVNA 

twice  before  divorce,  as  it  was  always  a  very  grave 
step  for  a  woman  to  take,  especially  in  her  position  ; 
no  woman,  said  the  Empress,  should  allow  the  world 
to  talk  about  her.  Marie  Pavlovna,  upon  this,  retorted 
that  she  thought  it  more  honest  to  divorce  than  to 
go  on  playing  a  part  and  breaking  faith  with  the  man 
to  whom  she  had  plighted  herself.  The  Empress 
was  aghast,  and  did  not  renew  the  conversation. 
She  said  afterwards  that  for  once  in  her  life  she  had 
not  been  able  to  find  a  reply  to  this  child  who  so 
openly  said  what,  after  all,  was  a  truth  which  others 
perhaps  would  do  as  well  to  take  to  heart. 

Apart  from  her  divorce,  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie 
Pavlovna  is  a  great  match  from  the  worldly  point  of 
view,  and  if  ever  she  married  again,  the  man  who  would 
be  lucky  enough  to  win  her  would  not  make  a  bad 
bargain.  She  is  pretty,  extremely  bright  and  clever, 
and,  besides,  very  rich,  having,  apart  from  her  dowry, 
inherited  a  considerable  fortune  from  her  great-grand- 
mother, the  Grand  Duchess  Alexandra  of  Russia,  with 
whom  she  was  a  favourite.  She  is  one  of  the  most 
attractive,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  popular,  members 
of  the  Imperial  family. 

Lately,  Petrograd  has  gossipped  freely  about  the 
morganatic  marriage  of  Princess  Tatiana,  the  daughter 
of  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine,  with  a  simple  com- 
moner, Prince  Bagration  Moukhranski,  a  pleasant 
man  and  the  descendant  of  an  old  Caucasian  family, 
but  poor  and  without  any  status  whatever.  She  lives 
quite  like  a  private  person,  and  is  never  so  annoyed  as 
when  one  makes  any  fuss  about  her  rank,  which  she 

69 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

renounced  without  regret.  Her  cousin,  the  Princess 
Irene  of  Russia,  also  wedded  a  man  not  belonging  to 
a  reigning  house,  but  the  heir  to  what  is  perhaps  the 
largest  fortune  in  Russia — Prince  Youssoupoff,  the  only 
son  of  that  amiable  Princess  Youssoupoff,  who  is 
reputed  to  have  brought  many  millions  as  a  dowry  when 
she  became  the  wife  of  Count  Soumarokoff  Elston,  an 
officer  in  a  regiment  of  the  Guards.  The  Count  ob- 
tained from  the  Emperor  the  right  to  take  his  wife's 
name  and  title.  It  is  an  open  secret  that  the  Princess 
Youssoupoff  had  been  sought  in  marriage  by  Prince 
Alexander  of  Battenberg  when  he  was  elected  Prince 
of  Bulgaria.  These  were  the  first  examples  of  members 
of  the  Russian  Imperial  Family  wedding  anyone  not 
their  equal  in  rank — at  least,  the  first  in  the  feminine 
line — but  it  is  likely  to  be  followed  by  others,  and  the 
Emperor  is  generally  approved  for  not  allowing  ques- 
tions of  etiquette  to  interfere  with  the  affections  of 
his  young  relatives.  The  Tsar's  kindness  is  too  great 
for  him  to  put  obstacles  in  the  way  of  true  affection, 
and  this  is  perhaps  one  of  the  reasons  why  he  is  so 
deeply  loved  in  his  own  family  circle. 


70 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  LAST  OF  THE  NASSAUS 

FEW  Royal  marriages  have  excited  so  much  interest, 
or  have  caused  so  much  anxiety  to  European  diplo- 
macy as  the  one  which  the  last  descendant  in  direct  line 
of  William  the  Silent,  Prince  of  Orange,  and  first  Stadt- 
holder  of  the  Netherlands,  contracted  with  a  youngest 
son  of  the  Ducal  family  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin. 
It  gave  many  a  sleepless  night  to  Prince  Bismarck, 
who  had  had  his  eye  on  the  Netherlands  ever  since  the 
death  of  the  sons  of  old  King  WilHam  III.  caused 
people  to  think  that  the  House  of  Nassau  was  doomed 
to  extinction.  Some  persons,  indeed,  believed  that  the 
cessation  of  the  male  line  imperilled  the  independence 
of  the  country  over  which  the  Nassaus  had  reigned 
for  nearly  five  hundred  years. 

The  German  Chancellor  viewed  with  deep  chagrin 
the  '^possibility  of  that  rich  inheritance  passing  to  a 
collateral  feminine  line,  as  represented  by  the  Grand 
Duchess  of  Saxe- Weimar  or  the  Princess  of  Wied. 

Bismarck  certainly  aimed  to  have  the  Netherlands 
under  German  influence,  but  would  not  have  welcomed 
the  Duke  of  Weimar  having  control  of  Dutch  affairs. 
Such  a  consummation  would  have  extinguished  for  ever 
Bismarck's  ambition  to  get  a  grip  upon  Holland,  because 

71 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

the  independent  nature  of  the  Dutch  people  would  keep 
the  Duke  strictly  to  the  interests  of  the  Netherlands. 
Another  factor  in  Bismarck's  objection  was  that 
should  it  have  come  about  that  the  Royal  line  passed  to 
the  Saxe-Weimars — who  were  but  a  secondary  German 
Royal  House — they  would  thus  have  secured  control  of 
a  large  army  not  under  Prussian  influence — a  dangerous 
eventuality.  Bismarck  knew  very  well  that  neither 
he,  nor  the  Emperor  William,  nor  Prussia  in  general, 
were  favourites  in  the  South  of  Germany,  and  this 
caused  him  to  fear  that  if  the  rebellious  spirits  there, 
who  were  trying  to  preach  independence  from  the 
Prussian  yoke,  found  themselves  in  possession  of  the 
resources  which  the  control  of  a  state  like  Holland 
would  place  within  their  reach,  they  might  turn  round 
and  refuse  to  remain  in  a  position  of  dependence  upon 
Prussia,  a  country  which  they  cordially  detested. 

Bismarck  had  several  times  times  tried  to  arrange 
a  marriage  for  the  Prince  of  Orange,  the  eldest  son 
and  heir  of  King  William  III.  of  the  Netherlands, 
with  a  German  princess.  For  a  short  time,  indeed, 
there  was  the  expectation  that  the  Grand  Duchess 
Marie  Alexandrovna  of  Russia,  who  later  on  became 
the  wife  of  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  would  become 
Queen  of  Holland.  When  the  Prince  of  Orange  died, 
Bismarck  did  his  best  to  persuade  Prince  Alexander, 
the  late  heir's  brother,  to  take  unto  himself  a  consort, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  was  infirm  and  a 
cripple  ;  but  the  young  man  had  the  good  taste  to  see 
that  the  woman  who  would  marry  him  would  only  do 
so  on  account  of  his  position  and  large  fortune,  and  he 

7« 


PRINCE  BISMARCK'S  ANXIETY 

declined  all  the  overtures  which  were  made  to  him 
from  Berlin.  When  he  died  the  anxiety  of  the  Ger- 
man Chancellor  was  intensified,  and  he  made  at  least 
one  more  attempt  to  ensure  the  succession  of  the 
Dutch  throne  to  the  House  of  Nassau. 

The  King  had  one  brother,  Prince  Henry,  a  child- 
less widower,  who  was  not  far  from  his  sixtieth  year, 
extremely  wealthy,  and,  though  very  withered  in 
appearance,  still  a  pleasant  man,  with  excellent  and 
genuine  qualities  of  heart  and  mind.  Prince  Bismarck 
bethought  himself  that  it  might  be  possible  to  induce 
him  to  marry  again,  and  he  contrived  that  a  meeting 
should  take  place  between  him  and  Princess  Marie, 
the  eldest  daughter  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  of 
Prussia,  the  famous  Red  Prince,  who  had  just  attained 
her  twenty-third  year,  and  who  was  beautiful,  amiable, 
and  charming  in  every  way,  but  not  happy  at  home, 
where  her  father  and  mother  were  scarcely  on  speaking 
terms,  and  whose  dowry,  like  those  of  all  the  Prussian 
princesses,  was  extremely  small.  Prince  Henry  allowed 
himself  to  be  persuaded,  of  course,  proposed  to  the 
Princess  Marie,  and  was  accepted.  The  marriage  took 
place  in  August,  1878,  at  Potsdam,  and  was  graced  by 
the  fSresence  of  the  King  himself,  who,  though  hating 
his  brother  as  he  did  all  the  members  of  his  family, 
thought  it  nevertheless  incumbent  on  him  to  come 
to  Germany  for  the  occasion. 

King  William  III.,  if  not  exactly  the  brute  some 
persons  have  represented  him  to  be,  still  was  not  of  an 
attractive  manner.  His  temper  was  abominable,  and 
he  had  made  his  first  wife,  the  accomplished  Queen 

73 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Sophy  of  Wiirtemberg,  far  from  a  model  husband. 
He  was  selfish,  too  ;  and  at  the  same  time  nourished 
feelings  which  made  him  look  with  rage  at  any  at- 
tempt of  other  people  to  be  happy  or  satisfied.  When 
he  saw  the  lovely  bride  whom  his  brother  was  leading 
to  the  altar,  and  realised  that  probably  the  union 
might  be  blessed  with  children,  who  would  ultimately 
step  into  his  shoes,  the  idea  was  intolerable  to  him, 
and  he  forthwith  decided  that  he  would  take  measures 
to  prevent  such  an  unwished-for  contingency. 

It  was  remarked  during  the  wedding  festivities  that 
he  scarcely  addressed  a  word  to  his  new  sister-in-law, 
and  treated  her  with  the  scantest  courtesy.  When  he 
took  his  leave,  after  a  stay  of  two  days  at  the  German 
Court,  everybody  was  genuinely  delighted  to  see  him 
go  away.  Not  unnaturally,  after  such  an  experience 
the  Princess  Marie  could  not  hide  her  anxiety  at  the 
prospect  of  having  to  meet  him  again  at  The  Hague. 

It  was  not,  however,  to  his  own  country  that  the 
aged  King  returned  when  he  left  Potsdam.  He  bent 
his  steps  toward  the  little  town  of  Arolsen,  in  the 
south  of  Germany,  under  the  pretext  of  paying  a  visit 
to  one  of  his  distant  cousins  who  resided  there,  the 
reigning  Prince  of  Waldeck  and  Pyrmont.  Prince 
George  Victor  had  four  daughters,  of  whom  the  eldest, 
Princess  Pauline,  was  married  to  Prince  Alexis  de 
Bentheim  at  Steinfurt,  whilst  the  three  others  were 
of  a  marriageable  age.  The  King  remained  a  week  at 
Arolsen,  and  before  he  left  announced  to  his  family 
and  to  foreign  Courts  that  he  was  engaged  to  the 
Princess  Emma  of  Waldeck  and  Pyrmont. 

74 


AN   UNDESERVED   FATE 

The  future  Queen  of  Holland  was  at  that  time 
twenty  years  of  age.  She  had  never  been  pretty ; 
but  was  endowed  with  many  qualities,  amongst  which 
a  sunny,  sweet  temper  and  a  remarkable  patience 
were  the  foremost.  She  had  been  carefully  brought 
up,  and  trained  to  a  strict  obedience  to  the  will  of 
her  father,  which  she  did  not  attempt  to  dispute  when 
he  signified  to  her  that  she  was  to  make  a  most  brilliant 
match  in  marrying  into  the  old  dynasty  of  the  Orange 
Nassaus.  He  did  not  add  that  she  was  going  to  be 
united  to  a  brutal,  selfish  old  man,  with  an  unbearable 
character  and  temper,  who  was  bound  to  make  her 
miserable.  The  Princess  Emma  submitted,  and  meekly 
went  to  meet  a  fate  which  most  certainly  she  did  not 
deserve. 

The  King  was  delighted.  Prince  Bismarck  was 
more  than  satisfied ;  it  would  be  hard  indeed,  he 
thought,  if  both  these  marriages  should  remain  child- 
less, and  what  he  desired  was  the  birth  of  an  heir  to 
the  Crown  of  Holland. 

The  wedding  of  the  King  took  place  at  Arolsen  on 
January  7th,  1879.  It  was  solemnised  in  a  most 
quiet  manner,  and  none  of  his  relations  was  invited 
to  attend  it,  not  even  his  sister,  the  Grand  Duchess  of 
Saxe-Weimar,  or  his  brother,  Prince  Henry,  with 
his  young  wife.  The  newly-married  pair  started  at 
once  for  the  castle  of  Het  Loo  in  the  Province  of 
Gueldres,  and  the  new  existence  of  Queen  Emma 
began  in  real  earnest. 

Its  first  days  were  saddened  by  family  mourning. 
Prince    Henry    caught    cold    about    the    time    of    his 

75 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

brother's  marriage,  and  it  developed  into  a  sharp 
attack  of  measles  which  carried  him  to  the  grave  in  a 
few  days.  His  three-months'  bride  was  left  a  widow, 
and  under  the  most  distressing  circumstances  from 
the  material  point  of  view.  Prince  Henry  had  wor- 
shipped his  young  wife,  and  had  openly  declared  to 
his  friends  that  he  had  made  a  will  in  which  every- 
thing that  he  possessed  was  left  to  her.  But  after 
his  death  no  such  will  was  found,  though  a  good  many 
people  declared  that  they  had  seen  it,  and  dark  rumours 
went  about  concerning  the  share  that  the  King  was 
supposed  to  have  had  in  its  disappearance.  William  III. 
was  the  one  who  profited  by  the  fact  that  the  will 
was  missing,  because  his  brother  having  died  intestate, 
all  his  vast  estates,  his  millions,  his  jewels  and  pictures 
passed  to  him,  and  the  Princess  Henry  was  left  with 
the  slightest  of  dowries,  which  barely  allowed  her  to 
exist  as  befitted  her  rank.  It  was  reported  that  re- 
monstrances were  made  to  the  King,  and  that  he  was 
told  he  ought  at  least  to  allow  his  sister-in-law  to 
continue  her  residence  at  the  castle  of  Soesdyk,  where 
her  husband  had  taken  her  after  their  marriage,  but 
he  brutally  replied  that  the  place  belonged  hence- 
forward to  him,  and  that  she  had  better  find  another 
home  as  soon  as  possible.  The  Princess,  who  did  not 
care  to  return  to  Germany,  resigned  herself  to  her 
fate,  and  settled  in  a  small  house  at  The  Hague,  where 
she  lived  in  complete  retirement,  until  the  death  of 
the  King,  when  his  widow,  the  Queen  Regent,  came 
to  her  help  most  generously  ;  she  not  only  settled  a 
large  income  upon  her,  but  gave  her  for  her  residence 

76 


AN  HEIR  IS  BORN 

one  of  the  numerous  castles  which  the  Crown  possesses 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  The  Hague. 

In  thus  coming  forward  to  repair  a  cruel  injustice, 
Queen  Emma  showed  the  noble  disposition  with  which 
she  had  always  been  credited  by  all  those  who  had 
known  her  before  her  marriage  with  the  old  King, 
whom  her  father's  ambition  had  obliged  her  to  wed, 
and  who  did  his  best  to  render  her  life  about  as  bitter 
as  it  was  possible  for  a  man  to  make  it.  She  bore  with 
him,  humoured  him,  was  kind  to  him ;  submitted  to 
his  caprices  and  vagaries  ;  and  resigned  herself  to  be 
continually  bullied,  ill-treated,  and  snubbed.  And  she 
fulfilled  all  the  expectations  which  her  marriage  had 
raised  all  over  Holland  ;  she  gave  birth  to  a  daughter 
about  one  year  after  her  wedding-day. 

The  arrival  in  the  world  of  this  little  girl  was  the 
cause  of  the  wildest  joy  throughout  the  Netherlands, 
which  had  already  given  up  the  thought  of  a  direct 
heir  to  the  ancient  House  of  the  Nassaus.  The  Queen 
found  herself  intensely  popular,  and  whenever  she 
showed  herself  in  the  streets  was  cheered  with  ex- 
treme enthusiasm.  This  exasperated  the  King,  who 
made  her  pay  dearly  for  the  love  which  her  subjects 
boife  her.  He  interfered  with  her  in  every  way, 
thwarted  her  in  all  her  desires,  even  the  simplest  ones  ; 
and  made  her  feel  at  every  step  and  turn  that  he  was 
the  master  of  the  house,  and  that  she  had  better  not 
attempt  to  assert  herself  in  any  way,  or  else  he  would 
very  quickly  dispatch  her  back  to  Arolsen,  keeping 
his  daughter  with  him,  and  never  allowing  her  to  see 
her  mother  again. 

77 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

This  was  the  one  eventuaUty  to  which  Queen  Emma 
refused  to  submit,  and  out  of  love  for  the  child  whom 
she  did  not  wish  to  abandon  to  the  care  of  a  father 
who  would  never  know  how  to  bring  her  up,  she  bore 
the  insults  which  were  her  daily  portion.  At  last  the 
King  died.  Queen  Emma  wore  mourning  for  him 
with  all  the  rigour  which  State  ceremonial  imposes, 
and  even  went  every  day  to  pray  over  his  coffin  in  the 
Royal  vault  at  Delft.  Wicked  people  declared  that  she 
did  so  only  to  convince  herself  that  he  really  was  dead. 

Queen  Emma  was  a  most  sensible  woman,  with 
abundant  common  sense,  and  she  very  quickly  dis- 
cerned the  peculiarities  of  the  nation  over  which  she 
was  called  upon  to  rule  in  the  name  of  her  only  daughter. 
She,  therefore,  made  an  exceedingly  judicious  Regent. 

To  her  daughter  she  gave  an  admirable  education, 
training  her  for  her  duties  with  the  most  tender  care, 
and  teaching  her  how  to  govern  her  country  with 
justice  and  ability.  She  was  sincerely  liked  in  Holland, 
and  upon  her  widowhood  that  affection  with  which 
she  had  previously  inspired  the  Dutch  people  increased 
as  one  saw  what  a  good,  devoted  mother  and  Regent 
she  was,  and  how  entirely  she  gave  everything  up  for 
the  sake  of  the  young  Queen  who  had  stepped  as  a 
child  of  ten  upon  the  throne  of  her  glorious  ancestors. 

Little  Wilhelmina  had  inherited  something  of  her 
father's  tyrannical  disposition,  and  she  was  but  too 
inclined  to  let  others  feel  that  she  was  the  Queen, 
and  that  she  intended  to  be  obeyed.  Her  mother 
corrected  this  natural  disposition  and  appealed  to  the 
girl's  heart,  and  to  her  common  sense,  teaching  her  that 

78 


WILHELMINA  OF  ORANGE   NASSAU 

her  high  position  entailed  on  her  many  more  duties 
than  would  have  been  the  case  had  she  been  born  in  a 
lower  and  less  responsible  sphere.  Her  efforts  were 
crowned  with  success,  and  Wilhelmina  grew  up  a  con- 
scientious, good,  honest,  scrupulous  woman,  admirably 
trained  for  all  the  difficulties  of  her  future  existence 
as  a  reigning  Sovereign. 

Wilhelmina  of  Orange  Nassau  was  clever,  and  knew 
very  well  how  to  accept  the  lessons  of  her  fond  mother. 
She  was  proud  of  her  position  as  a  Queen  ;  proud  of 
the  nation  over  which  she  ruled ;  proud  of  the  blood 
that  ran  in  her  veins  ;  proud  of  everything  that  be- 
longed to  her.  And  she  wanted  to  win  the  heart  of  her 
subjects  ;  to  make  them  feel  that  their  interests  would 
be  safe  in  her  hands.  When  she  came  of  age,  and  had 
to  take  the  oath  to  the  Constitution  in  the  cathedral 
of  Amsterdam,  her  ministers  had  prepared  a  speech 
which  she  was  to  read  for  the  occasion.  The  Queen 
asked  it  to  be  submitted  to  her  a  few  days  before,  and, 
after  having  read  it,  tore  up  the  paper  upon  which  it 
was  written.  "  This  will  never  do,"  she  said  ;  "  I 
know  what  I  am  to  say  to  my  people — and  it  will  be 
something  quite  different  from  this  rubbish,"  she 
adde^  disdainfully. 

And  on  the  day  which  saw  her  assume  the  reins 
of  the  government,  the  youthful  Sovereign  spoke  a 
few,  very  few  words  indeed  ;  but  they  went  direct 
to  the  heart  of  "  her  people,"  as  she  had  called 
them,  and  by  their  simple  earnestness  excited  the 
greatest  enthusiasm  to  which  cold-blooded  Holland 
had  ever  given  expression.    The  Dutch  nation  began  to 

79 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

worship  this  girl  who  understood  them  so  well,  and 
who  had  found  at  once  the  way  to  appeal  to  their 
hearts  and  to  their  feelings.  Wherever  the  Queen 
showed  herself,  she  was  received  with  cheers,  and  the 
little  children  even  followed  her  in  the  streets  as  she 
went  for  her  daily  walks,  quite  simply  and  only  at- 
tended by  one  lady-in-waiting.  Very  often  those 
walks  took  her  to  the  bedside  of  the  poor,  or  where 
misery  and  poverty  reigned.  She  showed  herself  in 
every  action  of  her  life  a  noble  woman  ;  and  she  has 
continued  to  be  so. 

Her  mother,  Queen  Emma,  with  all  her  great 
qualities,  had  remained  extremely  German  at  heart ; 
though  justice  must  be  rendered  to  her  in  recording 
the  fact  that  she  had  never  thought  of  the  interests  of 
Germany  during  the  whole  time  of  her  responsible 
Regency.  But  when  the  question  of  a  marriage  for 
her  daughter  came  to  be  discussed,  she  turned  her 
eyes  toward  the  land  of  her  birth,  and  openly  expressed 
the  wish  that  her  child  might  choose  for  herself  a  com- 
panion in  life  from  one  of  the  reigning  houses  of  that 
country. 

The  Dutch  people  did  not  quite  agree  with  her  on 
this  important  point.  They  did  not  care  for  a  German 
consort,  and  would  have  infinitely  preferred  that  a 
Belgian  or  an  English  prince  should  win  the  heart  of 
their  young  ruler.  Queen  Wilhelmina  was  kept  so 
secluded,  and  had  so  very  few  opportunities  for  meeting 
anyone  who  might  prove  eligible  for  her  to  marry, 
that  it  soon  became  certain  that  she  would  have  to 
follow  the  advice  of  her  mother  concerning  her  future 

80 


HOLLAND  AND  GERMANY 

establishment.  The  Emperor  William  would  have 
given  mueh  for  her  to  have  chosen  one  of  his  sons, 
and  he  did  his  best  to  persuade  the  Dowager  Queen 
to  use  her  influence  in  that  direction.  Indeed,  at  one 
moment  it  seemed  as  if  this  plan  had  some  chance 
of  success,  but  French  diplomacy  interfered,  and  the 
Dutch  Ministry  represented  to  the  Queen  Mother  that 
such  a  marriage  might  have  disastrous  consequences 
for  the  future  of  the  Netherlands.  Moreover,  it  was 
certain  that  the  majority  of  the  nation  was  violently 
opposed  to  any  such  eventuality,  as  it  feared  that 
Holland  might  thereby  run  the  danger  of  being  drawn 
into  any  future  quarrels  which  the  German  Empire 
might  have  with  its  neighbours.  Besides,  Prussian 
arrogance  had  already  made  itself  felt  in  different 
matters  connected  with  the  foreign  politics  of  Holland, 
and  this  was  more  than  sufficient  to  inspire  the  country 
with  a  profound  distrust  for  the  tortuous  intricacies 
of  German  politics. 

Queen  Emma  had  perforce  to  submit,  which  she 
did  with  better  grace  because  her  own  common  sense 
told  her  that  those  who  foresaw  that  an  alliance  with 
the  Hohenzollerns  might  be  pregnant  with  disaster  for 
Holland  were  not  so  very  far  wrong.  But  rather 
than  give  up  her  idea  of  a  German  marriage  for  her 
daughter,  she  looked  about  to  discover  what  prince 
might  prove  acceptable  to  the  Dutch  people. 

Perhaps  Queen  Wilhelmina's  mother  allowed  Wil- 
liam II.  to  guess  something  of  what  was  going  on  in 
her  mind ;  perhaps  also  the  German  Emperor's  numerous 
spies,  of  whom  he  had  a  considerable  number  in  Holland, 

G  8i 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

advised  him  as  to  the  predilection  of  the  former  Regent. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  motive,  the  fact  remains 
that  he  forthwith  presented  another  candidate  for 
her  approval  and  choice.  This  candidate  was  a 
younger  son  of  the  late  Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin,  Prince  Henry,  a  young  man  of  indifferent 
reputation,  who  was  on  the  point  of  emigrating  some- 
where out  of  reach  of  his  creditors,  when  it  was  sug- 
gested to  him  from  Berlin  that  he  had  better  attempt 
to  win  the  heart  and  affections  of  the  young  Queen 
of  Holland.  In  consideration  part  of  his  numerous 
debts  would  be  paid  and  he  would  be  given  the  means 
to  start  his  courtship  in  a  manner  befitting  his  rank 
and  his  position  in  the  world. 

Prince  Henry,  of  course,  jumped  at  the  chance  that 
was  offered  to  him  from  Berlin.  His  former  peccadilloes 
were  carefully  hidden  from  the  knowledge  of  Queen 
Emma,  who  was  only  told  that  he  would  prove  an 
obedient  and  submissive  husband  to  his  wife,  and  that, 
moreover,  he  would  never  attempt  to  mix  himself  up 
in  matters  of  State  or  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the 
country.  A  meeting  was  arranged  by  the  Emperor 
William  somewhere  in  a  German  watering-place,  where 
Queen  Emma  pretended  that  she  had  to  make  a  cure ; 
and  thrown  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  in  the  company 
of  a  young  man  who  did  his  best  to  make  himself 
pleasant  to  her,  Queen  Wilhelmina  grew  to  like  him 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  finally  agreed  to  his  pro- 
posal, being  partly  influenced  by  what  she  had  been 
told,  that  he  would  never  interfere  with  the  govern- 
ment of  her  country. 

82 


GERMAN   PLEASURE 

Warm  congratulations  from  all  her  German  re- 
latives were  poured  upon  her  when  the  news  of  her 
engagement  was  officially  announced.  Even  the  haughty 
Grand  Duchess  Vladimir  of  Russia,  the  sister  of  Prince 
Henry  of  Mecklenburg,  deigned  to  write  a  most  cordial 
letter  to  the  future  sister-in-law  who  was  to  retrieve 
the  fallen  fortunes  of  the  youngest  scion  of  her  house, 
and  to  express  to  her  in  the  warmest  terms  her  joy  at 
the  unexpected  piece  of  good  luck  that  had  fallen  to 
the  portion  of  her  brother.  The  Emperor  William 
telegraphed  at  once  his  approval,  and  wrote  a  separate 
letter  to  Prince  Henry,  in  which  he  reminded  him, 
amongst  other  things,  that  he  was  a  German  prince, 
and  ought  never  to  forget  his  duties  toward  his  own 
country  and  the  land  of  his  birth. 

The  Queen  of  Holland  was  married  with  great 
solemnity  at  the  cathedral  of  The  Hague  to  Prince 
Henry  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  and  though  the  union 
which  she  contracted  was  not  exactly  a  popular  one, 
yet  she  was  wished  happiness  in  her  new  life  by 
the  whole  of  the  Dutch  people.  The  papers  even 
made  some  delicate  allusions  to  the  fact  that  very 
probably  the  rejoicings  of  the  nation  on  the  occasion 
of  the*  Queen's  wedding  would  be  followed  in  due  time 
by  others  of  more  importance  still  :  those  to  celebrate 
the  birth  and  christening  of  an  heir  to  the  House  of 
Orange  Nassau.  This  last  event,  however,  did  not 
occur  quite  so  soon  as  people  had  hoped  and  ex- 
pected. 

Prince  Henry,  who  was  awarded  the  rank  and 
position  of  Prince  Consort,  and  became  naturalised  in 

83 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Holland,  did  not  make  himself  liked  there.  His  stiff 
German  manners  did  not  please  the  Dutch  people, 
and  very  soon  it  became  known  that  he  had  not  re- 
nounced certain  bad  habits  he  had  contracted  in  his 
own  country.  More  than  once  Wilhelmina  had  to  pay 
his  debts,  and  it  was  said  that  painful  scenes  had  taken 
place  between  husband  and  wife,  and  that  Prince 
Henry  had  even  ill-treated  the  Queen.  True  or  not, 
these  rumours  went  about  among  the  public,  and 
made  him  intensely  disliked  by  the  majority  of  the 
Queen's  subjects.  The  latter,  however,  never  made 
any  sign  that  she  objected  to  her  husband's  doings, 
and  outwardly,  at  least,  observed  toward  him  both 
affectionate  and  dignified  manners.  It  is  not  to  be 
doubted  that  she  came  very  soon  to  the  conclusion 
that  she  had  been  wedded  to  a  man  inferior  to  her  in 
everything,  and  that  she  could  never  be  quite  happy 
with  him  ;  but  she  had  far  too  much  pride  to  allow 
the  public  to  penetrate  into  the  secrets  of  her  conjugal 
life.  For  a  good  many  years  her  marriage  remained 
a  childless  one,  but  at  last  the  wishes  of  the  nation 
were  fulfilled,  and  one  April  morning  a  daughter  saw 
the  light  of  day  in  the  Palace  of  The  Hague,  and  the 
House  of  Orange  hailed  the  birth  of  an  heiress  to  its 
possessions  and  titles. 

The  arrival  of  this  small  child  was  the  greatest  joy 
that  had  ever  been  granted  to  Queen  Wilhelmina, 
who  saw  in  its  advent  in  the  world  not  only  the  con- 
tinuation of  her  race,  but  also  the  greatest  consolation 
of  her  life  amid  its  arduous  and  ungrateful  duties. 
She   decided   to  bring  up   her   daughter   in  the  same 

84 


Fhoto :  Deiitmann 

QUEEN   WILHELMINA   OF   HOLLAND,    AND 
PRINCESS  JULIANA 


THE  FUTURE  OF  HOLLAND 

manner  that  she  herself  had  been  trained  by  her 
adoring  mother  ;  simply  and  earnestly,  with  principles 
of  strict  obedience  to  the  duties  that  were  given  to  her 
to  perform.  Her  relations  with  her  husband  there- 
after also  grew  more  tender ;  and  here  it  must  be  re- 
marked that  Prince  Henry  had  succeeded,  too,  in 
winning  at  last  the  favour  of  the  Dutch  nation,  thanks 
to  his  heroic  behaviour  when  a  German  steamer,  the 
Elbe,  sank  on  the  Dutch  coast  together  with  its  load 
of  emigrants  and  passengers.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
to  rush  to  the  rescue,  and  worked  like  the  humblest 
of  sailors  at  saving  the  wrecked  people,  giving  to 
everybody  the  example  of  a  quiet  and  determined 
courage  which  changed  entirely  the  hostile  feelings 
which  had  been  nourished  against  him  in  Holland 
until  that  day,  and  won  him  the  regard  of  those  who 
had  violently  disliked  him  before. 

The  marriage  of  Queen  Wilhelmina  was  the  cause 
of  much  heart-burning  in  Europe,  and  it  is  likely  that 
when  the  time  comes  to  think  about  the  establishment 
of  her  daughter  the  feeling  will  again  recur.  Little 
Princess  Juliana  is  only  six  years  old  at  present, 
and  it  is  already  a  current  rumour  in  Berlin  that 
German  diplomacy  is  determined  to  give  her  as 
husband  one  of  the  sons  of  the  present  Crown  Prince. 
Such  a  marriage  would  bring  Holland  definitely  into 
the  sphere  of  German  influence,  and  at  the  same  time 
seal  its  fate.  Whether  this  is  likely  to  happen  is,  of 
course,  impossible  to  say.  For  one  thing,  all  these 
combinations  may  crumble  to  the  ground,  as  it  is 
possible  after  all  that  a  son  may  be  born  to  the  present 

85 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Queen,  an  event  that  would  at  once  dispose  of  the 
political  importance  of  any  marriage  which  the  Prin- 
cess Juliana  might  contract  later  on.  It  is  also  possible 
that  the  treaty  of  peace  which  will  be  concluded  be- 
tween the  present  belligerent  powers  at  the  end  of  the 
war  will  relegate  Prussia  to  a  relatively  harmless 
position,  where  it  will  be  a  matter  of  utter  indifference 
to  the  world  whether  or  not  one  of  her  princes  marries 
the  heiress  to  the  Dutch  throne. 

But  after  all  is  said  and  done,  human  calculations, 
always  liable  to  be  mistaken,  are  perfectly  useless  ; 
it  is  quite  impossible  to  guess  what  the  future  of  Hol- 
land will  be ;  she  has  as  yet  succeeded  in  preserving 
her  neutrality,  but  what  she  may  do  in  the  future 
depends  on  circumstances  no  one  can  control  or  con- 
jecture. One  thing  can  be  safely  affirmed,  there  is  a 
considerable  party  in  the  Netherlands  which  would 
like  their  country  to  interfere  in  favour  of  Belgium, 
and  which  is  deeply  irritated  against  Germany  and 
her  aggressive  policy.  This  party  fears  that  the  in- 
dependence of  Holland  is  threatened  by  Germany, 
and  that  in  the  very  remote  and  improbable  contin- 
gency of  Prussia  emerging  triumphant  out  of  the 
ferocious  struggle,  she  would  hasten  to  incorporate 
Holland  into  the  alliance  which  she  has  contracted 
with  Austria,  and  thus  ensure  to  herself  an  outlet  on 
the  North  Sea,  which,  combined  with  the  possession 
of  Antwerp,  would  give  her  entire  dominion  on  that 
coast,  and  allow  her  to  withstand  any  attack  to  which 
she  might  be  subjected  on  the  part  of  the  British 
fleet.     It  is  most  likely  that  the  German  sympathies 

86 


HOLLAND'S  NEUTRALITY 

of  the  Queen  Mother  and  of  her  son-in-law  have  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  neutrahty  to  which  the  Dutch 
Government  has  pledged  itself,  a  neutrality  that,  it 
must  be  owned,  has  shaken  in  some  quarters  the  great 
popularity  which  Queen  Wilhelmina  has  hitherto 
enjoyed,  and  caused  her  conduct  to  be  criticised  with 
a  shade  of  sharpness.  Holland  does  not  care  to  be- 
come a  German  province,  nor  even  to  be  tied  down 
by  an  alliance  to  Germany  ;  and  this  was  partly  one 
of  the  reasons  why  the  marriage  of  its  Sovereign  gave 
rise  to  some  discontent  at  the  time  when  it  was  con- 
tracted. 

It  must  be  owned,  however,  if  one  wishes  to  be 
impartial,  that  the  position  of  Holland  and  of  its 
Government  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  one,  and  that 
it  will  require  all  the  resources  of  her  diplomacy  to 
enable  her  to  overcome  the  numerous  painful  incidents 
which  are  sure  to  crop  up  with  regard  to  her  before 
the  end  of  the  war.  If  one  takes  all  this  into  con- 
sideration, one  must  recognise  that  so  far  Queen  Wil- 
helmina has  held  to  a  line  of  conduct  which  has  been 
clever  and  impartial,  and  that  her  consort  has  not 
influenced  her  to  the  extent  of  becoming  the  humble 
servant  of  the  German  Emperor.  On  the  contrary, 
he  has  encouraged  her  to  show  her  independence  by 
receiving  with  warmth  the  unfortunate  Belgian  re- 
fugees who  have  thronged  into  Holland.  In  that 
respect,  Prince  Henry  has  proved  that  though  he  is 
a  German  he  has  encouraged  the  Queen  of  the  Nether- 
lands in  resisting  the  dictates  of  this  arrogant  and 
unscrupulous  nation. 

87 


CHAPTER    V 

LUXEMBURG  AND   BELGIUM 

AT  the  present  moment  there  exists  in  the  Royal 
/~\  marriage  market  one  great  heiress  whose  hand  is 
coveted  by  almost  every  princely  bachelor  in  Europe. 
It  is  the  young  Grand  Duchess  of  Luxemburg,  who 
not  only  succeeded  her  father  on  the  throne  of  the 
Grand  Duchy,  but  also  inherited  the  greater  part  of 
his  enormous  fortune. 

Marie  Adelaide,  Grand  Duchess  of  Luxemburg  and 
Duchess  of  Nassau,  who  has  just  reached  her  twenty- 
first  year,  assumed  on  her  eighteenth  birthday  the 
reins  of  government  in  her  little  dominion,  which  up 
to  then  had  been  administered  by  her  mother,  an 
Infanta  of  Portugal,  and  the  sister  of  the  Archduchess 
Marie  Ther^se  of  Austria.  On  her  father's  side  she  was 
related  to  the  Royal  House  of  Sweden,  and  also  to 
that  of  Baden,  her  aunt,  the  Princess  Hilda  of  Nassau, 
having  married  the  Grand  Duke  of  that  name.  She 
was  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  six  girls,  the  successive 
birth  of  whom  had  brought  one  disappointment  on 
the  top  of  the  other  to  her  parents,  who  ardently 
wished  for  a  son  and  heir. 

At  first  it  was  believed  that  difficulties  would  be 
thrown  in  the  way  of  Marie  Adelaide's  accession  to  the 

88 


GRAND  DUCHESS  MARIE  ADELAIDE 

throne  of  Luxemburg,  as  the  Count  of  Merenberg, 
the  brother  of  the  present  Countess  Torby,  and  the 
son  of  the  late  Prince  Nicholas  of  Nassau  by  a  mor- 
ganatic marriage,  contested  the  rights  of  his  young 
cousin,  and  pretended  that  the  feminine  line  was 
excluded  from  succession  by  virtue  of  an  old  family 
statute  of  the  Nassau  dynasty.  His  pretensions, 
however,  were  rejected  by  the  courts  of  law  whither 
he  carried  them,  and,  failing  the  male  line,  the  rights 
of  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Luxemburg 
were  recognised,  not  only  in  the  Grand  Duchy,  but 
also  throughout  Europe  ;  and  when  her  father  died 
Marie  Adelaide  was  acclaimed  as  Sovereign  by  the 
whole  population  of  that  State,  which  rather  relished 
the  idea  of  being  governed  by  a  young  and  pretty  girl. 

The  Grand  Duchess  Marie  Adelaide  was  the  first 
member  of  the  Nassau  family  to  profess  the  Catholic 
religion  since  the  great  man  of  that  race,  William  the 
Silent,  had  renounced  the  creed  of  his  forefathers,  and 
gone  over  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation.  She  is 
extremely  beautiful,  very  talented,  very  intelligent, 
and,  moreover,  possessed  of  a  strong  will,  which  she 
never  showed  more  bravely  than  when,  alone  in  her 
motor-car,  she  met  the  German  army  which  was  in- 
vading her  Grand  Duchy  and  protested  in  person 
against  the  violation  of  its  integrity  and  neutrality. 

Besides  the  revenues  of  her  small  state,  she  was 
the  sole  mistress  of  a  fortune  of  several  millions,  which, 
apart  from  every  other  advantage,  made  her  the 
greatest  heiress  in  Europe.  From  the  day  that  she 
reached  a  marriageable  age  she  became  the  point  de 

89 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

viire  of  the  frequenters  of  the  Royal  marriage  markets 
of  the  world,  and  the  offers  whieh  she  had  were  too 
numerous  to  be  counted.  So  far,  she  has  shown  no 
inclination  for  matrimony  ;  on  the  contrary,  she  has 
kept  at  bay  all  the  suitors  who  crowded  around  her. 
Very  independent  of  character,  she  is  supposed  to  have 
declared  that  she  did  not  see  any  necessity  to  sacri- 
fice her  liberty  for  the  sake  of  a  husband  who  might 
not,  after  all,  prove  worthy,  and  that  if  the  Duchy  of 
Luxemburg  wanted  heirs,  she  had  five  sisters  who 
could  marry  and  present  it  with  one.  Perhaps  she 
felt  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  her  to  choose  a  proper 
companion  for  her  life  amidst  the  competitors  who, 
to  her  extreme  annoyance,  came  forward  every  day. 

This  youthful  sovereign  had  ideas  and  opinions  of 
her  own,  and  she  did  not  share  the  admiration  which 
her  family  displayed  for  German  methods,  German 
ways,  and  the  German  manner  of  governing ;  and 
though  the  Grand  Ducal  family  of  Baden,  with  whom 
her  mother,  the  Dowager  Duchess,  was  on  very  inti- 
mate terms,  loaded  her  with  attentions,  she  guessed 
that  these  were  not  wholly  disinterested.  She  knew 
quite  well,  indeed,  that  they,  together  with  other 
people  in  Germany,  not  excepting  the  Emperor  him- 
self, were  very  much  interested  in  everything  that 
concerned  her  existence,  and  would  have  liked  her  to 
marry  a  man  in  possession  of  their  particular  confidence 
and  esteem. 

Now,  this  did  not  at  all  agree  with  her  own  secret 
intentions.  She  did  not  care  for  a  German  suitor, 
imposed  upon  her  by  circumstances  and  other  people's 

90 


A  PURPOSEFUL  PRINCESS 

ambitions.  She  meant  to  do  what  she  liked  in  this 
as  in  everything  else. 

Her  mother,  though  a*  person  of  very  great  merit, 
was  not  so  intelligent  as  the  Grand  Duehess,  and 
never  suspected  that  those  who  spoke  to  her  with 
such  tender  solicitude  about  her  eldest  daughter's 
future  did  so  from  interested  motives,  and  simply 
because  they  wanted  to  keep  under  their  control  a  girl 
who  without  doubt  represented  the  best  parti  in 
Europe. 

Among  other  suitors,  there  presented  himself  a 
prince  of  the  Royal  House  of  Bavaria,  Prince  Henry, 
whose  mother,  by  birth  a  Princess  of  Liechtenstein,  was 
distantly  related  to  the  Dowager  Duchess  of  Luxem- 
burg. Being  a  Catholic,  Prince  Henry  seemed  at  first 
sight  to  be  quite  a  suitable  match  for  the  youthful 
Sovereign.  Strong  efforts  were  made  in  different  direc- 
tions to  ensure  his  winning  this  first  prize  in  the 
Royal  matrimonial  market ;  but  they  all  came  to 
nothing  in  face  of  the  passive  opposition  of  Marie 
Adelaide,  who  persevered  in  her  decision  to  wait  before 
entering  the  marriage  state  until  she  should  have  met 
the  man  who  really  appealed  to  her  imagination,  as  well 
as  t6  her  reason,  and  on  whom  she  would  be  glad  to 
bestow  her  hand. 

The  Emperor  William  watched  all  her  actions  with 
unusual  interest.  He  would  have  dearly  liked  one  of 
his  own  sons  to  have  a  chance  of  bringing  home 
this  much-coveted  bride,  but  all  Hohenzollerns  were 
staunch  Protestants,  whilst  the  Duchess  of  Luxem- 
burg  had  announced  her  determination  never  to  wed 

91 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

anyone  who  professed  another  creed  than  that  which 
she  upheld. 

This  settled  the  question  so  far  as  a  Prussian  candi- 
date was  concerned,  and  it  was  after  having  realised 
this  last  fact  that  the  Emperor  William  II.  gave  his 
patronage  to  the  Bavarian  prince,  using  his  best  en- 
deavours to  persuade  the  Grand  Duchess,  as  well  as 
her  mother,  that  for  many  reasons  Prince  Henry  would 
be  able  to  protect  their  interests  should  untoward 
events  happen  to  endanger  the  safety  of  the  small 
State. 

All  this  diplomacy  failed,  and  the  girl  whose  future 
gave  so  much  anxiety  to  so  many  people  is  still  un- 
married, and  seems  to  persevere  in  her  intention  to 
remain  so,  at  least  for  the  present.  She  is  credited  with 
having  made  the  remark  that  the  far  future  would  be 
time  enough  for  her  to  give  a  thought  as  to  the  per- 
sonality of  any  eventual  suitor,  and  that  for  the  present 
she  felt  quite  content  with  her  condition.  This  per- 
sistence in  refusing  all  the  offers  which  she  received 
brought  about  an  estrangement  between  her  and  her 
mother,  and  the  Dowager  Duchess  absented  herself 
from  Luxemburg  more  frequently  than  had  been  the 
case  before,  leaving  her  daughter  to  the  care  of  her 
attendants  and  of  her  household. 

When  the  present  war  began  the  Duchess  was 
sounded  by  Germany  as  to  the  attitude  which  she 
meant  to  adopt  if  by  any  means  the  neutrality  of  her 
small  State  were  violated  by  the  armies  of  the  Kaiser, 
and  she  was  offered  considerable  advantages  if  she 
were  willing  to  agree  to  let  them  pass  through  her 

92 


GERMAN  TROOPS  IN  LUXEMBURG 

territory.  But  the  young  girl  refused  them  all  with 
proud  disdain,  and  made  a  public  protestation  against 
the  conduct  of  Prussia,  returning  afterwards  to  her 
palace,  where  she  locked  herself  up  and  refused  to  see 
the  German  officials  and  generals  who  humbly  craved 
the  honour  to  present  their  respects  to  her,  according 
to  the  orders  they  had  received  from  Berlin. 

The  Emperor,  in  spite  of  his  rage  at  the  courageous 
independence  of  the  Duchess,  did  not  vent  his  anger 
either  upon  her  or  upon  her  subjects.  His  troops  passed 
through  her  territory  without  committing  depreda- 
tions ;  on  the  contrary,  they  treated  the  inhabitants 
with  the  utmost  courtesy,  paying  for  everything  that 
they  took  and  behaving  like  gentlemen  :  very  differ- 
ent from  the  conduct  which  marked  their  presence 
in  Belgium.  William  II.  was  keenly  conscious  of  the 
matrimonial  importance  of  the  Princess  Marie  Adelaide, 
as  well  as  of  the  advantages  that  might  accrue  for 
Germany  and  for  its  politics  if  she  were  brought  to 
look  at  things  from  his  point  of  view  and  to  bestow 
herself,  her  millions,  and  her  Grand  Duchy  on  an 
admirer  of  German  ways  and  German  grandeur.  He 
tried  to  win  her  good  graces,  and  conferred  a  high 
decoVation  on  her  and  on  her  mother  as  a  mark  of  his 
particular  esteem  ;  and,  further,  he  asked  his  cousin, 
the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  to  influence  the  young 
Grand  Duchess  through  his  wife,  who  was  the  aunt  of 
Marie  Adelaide,  in  order  to  persuade  her  that  it  was 
better  for  her  own  interests  to  adhere  to  the  policy 
which  he  thought  he  had  inaugurated  with  such 
success   when  he  declared  war  upon  Russia.     He  even 

93 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

hinted  to  her  that  she  might  win  some  solid  advan- 
tages from  a  friendly  attitude  in  regard  to  him  and 
to  his  armies,  and  that  when  peace  came  to  be  dis- 
cussed he  would  arrange  matters  so  that  a  consider- 
able part  of  Belgian  territory  would  be  added  to  the 
dominions  of  Luxemburg. 

But  this  immoral  proposition  only  added  to  the 
feelings  of  indignation  which  the  Duchess  felt  already 
in  regard  to  the  Emperor.  The  Queen  of  the  Belgians 
was  her  own  cousin,  her  mother,  the  Duchess  Marie 
Jose  in  Bavaria,  being  the  sister  of  the  Dowager  Duchess 
of  Luxemburg ;  and  Marie  Adelaide  was  the  last 
person  capable  of  despoiling  anyone,  especially  a 
member  of  her  own  family.  She  scornfully  refused  the 
insidious  offers  which  were  made  to  her,  and  she  shut 
herself  up  in  a  haughty  silence  that  would  have  told 
strange  things  to  William  II.  had  he  only  under- 
stood it. 

People  who  well  know  the  girl  who  at  present  is 
the  youngest  sovereign  in  Europe,  declare  that  in  her 
marriage,  as  well  as  in  many  of  her  actions,  she  will 
surprise  the  world  and  her  family,  and  rumours  of  an 
attachment  that  she  bears  to  a  man  of  whom  her 
mother  does  not  approve  have  recently  circulated 
among  her  subjects.  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether 
they  are  justified,  and  time  alone  can  show  ;  but  in 
the  meanwhile  the  Duchess  Marie  Adelaide  remains 
the  despair  of  all  the  ambitious  Royal  mothers  whose 
sons  would  be  in  the  position  to  aspire  to  the  hand 
of  the  richest  heiress  in  Europe. 

The  relationship  existing  between  the  Royal  fami- 

94 


GRAND    DUCHESS   MARIE   ADELAIDE    OE   LUXEMBURG 


KING  ALBERT  OF  BELGIUM 

lies  of  Luxemburg  and  Belgium  gives  a  natural  con- 
tinuation from  the  one  to  the  other.  Belgium  has 
no  braver  patriots  than  King  Albert  of  Belgium  and 
his  wife.  Equally  are  they  devoted  to  their  country 
and  to  each  other.  How  they  came  to  be  betrothed 
is  a  love  tale  full  of  sweetness.  For  Elisabeth  of 
Bavaria  her  marriage  was  an  idyll  that,  unfortunately 
for  her,  has  turned  into  a  drama.  This  circumstance, 
however,  has  not  impaired  the  deep  love  that  presided 
at  her  union  with  King  Albert.  They  met  for  the 
first  time  at  the  wedding  of  her  sister,  the  Princess 
Gabrielle,  with  Prince  Rupprecht  of  Bavaria,  the  present 
Crown  Prince  of  that  country.  Princess  Elisabeth 
was  at  that  time  a  slight,  fair  girl  of  twenty -four, 
timid,  and  of  a  retiring  disposition.  Much  of  her  time 
was  spent  in  works  of  charity,  her  most  beloved  occu- 
pation being  to  help  her  father,  the  late  Duke  Karl 
Theodor  in  Bavaria.  He  was  an  oculist  of  consider- 
able fame,  and  devoted  his  scientific  knowledge  to  the 
poor,  whom  he  treated  without  remuneration  simply 
because  he  wanted  to  help  them.  She  had  been 
brought  up  most  carefully.  The  natural  tendencies 
of  her  very  noble  nature  had  been  developed  and 
encouraged  through  the  training  which  she  had  re- 
ceived. Her  charms  made  an  immediate  appeal  to 
Prince  Albert  of  Belgium,  as  he  still  was  at  that  time, 
and  who,  himself  of  a  timid  temperament,  was  irre- 
sistibly attracted  by  the  serious,  earnest,  and  un- 
affected girl,  who  never  came  forward  in  public  except 
when  obliged  to  do  so  by  force  of  circumstances. 
She,  on  her  side,  was  struck  by  the  nobility  of  thought 

95 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

which  characterised  Prince  Albert,  without  ever  dream- 
ing that  he  was  in  love  with  her.  The  marriage  was 
exceedingly  popular,  even  among  those  who  expected 
the  future  successor  of  wily  King  Leopold  to  choose 
a  more  brilliant  consort.  When  he  brought  his  bride 
to  his  home  at  Brussels,  his  parents,  the  Count  and 
Countess  of  Flanders,  at  once  appreciated  the  sweet 
nature  of  Princess  Elisabeth. 

Subsequent  events  proved  that  he  had  made  a 
wise  choice,  because  to-day  the  whole  world  has  recog- 
nised the  rare  qualities  which  distinguish  the  loyal 
and  beautiful  nature  of  the  Queen  of  the  Belgians,  and 
has  admired  the  heroic  conduct  which  kept  her  at 
her  husband's  side  through  all  the  dark  hours  that 
have  thrown  their  sinister  shadow  over  the  unfor- 
tunate land  of  Belgium.  The  name  of  Queen  Elisa- 
beth will  always  remain  engraved  on  the  minds  and 
in  the  hearts  of  those  who  have  had  the  opportunity 
to  watch  her  devotion  to  her  husband,  and  her  care 
for  the  wounded  soldiers  whom  she  helped  to  pick 
up  on  the  battlefield ;  and  many  a  one  amongst  the 
latter  has  blessed  the  day  when  their  Sovereign  took 
to  himself  for  a  wife  the  heavenly  messenger  who 
came  to  speak  to  them  of  hope  and  of  mercy  at  a 
time  when  a  reign  of  mercilessness  seemed  to  have 
fallen  on  the  world. 

If  the  marriage  of  King  Albert  has  been  in  every 
respect  an  ideal  one,  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the 
Belgian  Royal  Family  in  general.  The  dissensions 
which  existed  between  the  late  King  Leopold  and 
his  Queen  were  common  property,  and  it  was  related 

96 


LOVELESS  MARRIAGES 

that  when  Marie  Henriette  was  dying  she  asked  the 
sister  of  charity  who  was  attending  her  to  raise  her 
in  her  bed,  wanting,  she  added,  to  kneel  once  more 
and  pray  for  herself,  because  there  was  none  to  do 
so  among  those  nearest  related  to  her,  and  she  did 
not  want  to  appear  before  her  Maker  without  having 
begged  Him  to  be  merciful  to  her  in  her  last  hour. 
Her  two  eldest  daughters  also  did  not  find  happiness 
in  their  married  lives.  The  adventures  of  the  Princess 
Louise  and  her  quarrels  with  her  husband,  Prince 
Philip  of  Coburg,  employed  the  courts  of  law  of  almost 
every  country  in  Europe.  Princess  Louise  was  more 
sinned  against  than  a  sinner  herself.  Slie  was  united 
to  a  man  of  brutish  tendencies,  who  could  not  find  a 
better  way  to  get  rid  of  a  wife  whom  he  did  not  want 
to  divorce,  on  account  of  the  large  fortune  she  would 
inherit  one  day,  than  by  locking  her  up  in  a  mad- 
house. She  was  kept  there  for  six  years,  and  only 
escaped  through  the  devotion  of  the  only  disinterested 
man  whom  she  had  ever  known,  and  whom  both  her 
father  and  her  husband  accused  of  all  kinds  of  crimesj 
in  order  to  vilify  his  name. 

The  Princess  Stephanie  had  also  a  sad  life  after 
her  naarriage  to  the  Crown  Prince  Rudolph  of  Austria. 
She  only  found  some  peace  after  her  second  marriage 
with  a  simple  gentleman,  the  Count  Lonyay. 

Neither  of  these  princesses  had  reason  to  care  in- 
ordinately for  her  father,  whose  selfishness  and  per- 
sonal aims  had  obliged  them  to  contract  loveless 
marriages  with  men  whom  they  could  neither  like  nor 
respect.  As  for  their  youngest  sister  the  romance 
H  97 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

which  culminated  in  her  marriage  with  the  present 
head  of  tiie  Bonaparte  dynasty  is  still  fresh  in  people's 
minds,  and  for  a  considerable  time  kept  universal 
sympathies  riveted  on  its  development  and  its  vicissi- 
tudes. 

The  late  King  Leopold  was  one  of  the  most  selfish 
men  alive  ;  he  was  fond  of  France,  and  used  to  spend 
the  greater  part  of  his  time  there,  making  rare  appear- 
ances in  Brussels.  He  disliked  his  capital  owing  to 
the  impossibility  of  leading  there  the  easy,  unfettered 
kind  of  existence  he  was  so  fond  of,  and  of  introduc- 
ing to  Brussels  society  the  person  whom  he  had  mar- 
ried morganatically,  and  who,  before  he  had  done  so, 
had  been  one  of  the  stars  of  a  music-hall  at  Mont- 
martre.  He  built  for  her  a  splendid  villa  at  Ville- 
franche,  near  Nice,  where  he  preferred  living  to  any- 
where else.  So  strongly  was  he  attached  to  France 
as  an  abode  that  he  became  alarmed  lest  this  might 
be  made  difficult  or  unpleasant  for  him  were  his 
daughter  to  wed  the  Pretender  to  the  throne  of  the 
Bonapartes.  Consequently,  he  forbade  the  Princess 
Clementine  to  think  of  Prince  Victor  Napoleon,  and 
did  all  that  lay  within  his  power,  though  without 
success,  to  oblige  the  latter  to  give  up  his  Brussels 
residence  and,  indeed,  to  leave  Belgium.  When  his 
daughter  implored  him  to  yield  to  her  wishes,  and  to 
remember  that  she  had  absolutely  no  one  to  love  or 
to  take  care  of  her,  he  brutally  replied  that  she  did 
not  require  anything  of  the  kind,  and  that  if  she  was 
not  content  with  her  present  position  she  could  go 
where  she  liked.    The  fact  was  that  the  crafty  old  man 

98 


A  SELFISH  MONARCH 

was  glad  to  find  a  pretext  to  quarrel  with  his  children 
so  as  to  have  reason  for  cutting  them  out  of  his  will. 
For  this  reason  he  had  opposed  every  marriage  offer 
which  they  had,  and  he  cursed  the  Princess  Stephanie 
when  she  declared  that  she  was  going  to  be  united  to 
Count  Lonyay.  He  would  have  done  the  same  in 
regard  to  the  Princess  Clementine  had  the  latter  not 
been  wise  in  her  generation  and  expressed  her  willing- 
ness to  conform  to  the  King's  wishes — conduct  which 
obliged  him  to  treat  her  with  some  consideration,  a 
concession  which  he  denied  to  all  the  other  members 
of  his  family,  whom  he  bullied  and  worried  in  turns. 

The  Princess  Clementine  was  somewhat  of  a  diplo- 
mat. She  knew  that  her  father's  health  was  not  of 
the  best,  and  she  armed  herself  with  patience,  and 
made  up  her  mind  to  wait  until  her  father  was  dead 
and  she  became  free  to  do  whatever  she  liked.  The 
heavens  proved  merciful,  because  the  King  suc- 
cumbed a  few  months  later  to  the  disease  of  which  he 
had  long  been  suffering,  and  though  quarrels  without 
number  followed  concerning  his  inheritance,  his  daugh- 
ters found  themselves  at  liberty  to  shape  their  lives 
according  to  their  own  wishes. 

The  Princess  Clementine  at  last  married  Prince 
Victor  Napoleon  Bonaparte  at  the  castle  of  Monca- 
lieri,  near  Turin,  the  residence  of  his  mother,  the 
saintly  Princess  Clotilde  of  Savoy,  about  ten  months 
after  the  death  of  Leopold  11. 

The  latter's  successor  had  given  a  cordial  assent 
to  a  union  upon  which  he  knew  the  happiness  of  his 
cousin  depended.     The  Princess  returned  to  Brussels, 

99 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

where  she  settled  with  her  husband  in  the  lovely  house 
which  the  latter  had  built  for  himself  in  the  Avenue 
Louise.  Two  children,  a  daughter  and  a  son,  the  heir 
to  all  the  glories  and  all  the  misfortunes  of  the  Napo- 
leonic dynasty,  were  born  to  them,  and  husband  and 
wife  remained  on  the  best  of  terms  with  King  Albert 
and  his  consort.  They  were  quite  content  with  the 
life  they  had  mapped  out  for  themselves,  until  the 
war  drove  them  out  of  their  home  and  obliged  them  to 
seek  a  refuge  in  England,  whose  hospitable  shores 
received  them  with  a  cordiality  one  meets  nowhere 
outside  of  Great  Britain. 

In  England  they  found  themselves  affectionately 
welcomed  by  the  aged  Empress  Eugenie,  who  was 
very  fond  of  the  Princess  Clementine.  Fate  had 
destined  the  Empress  to  witness,  for  the  second  time 
in  her  life,  the  invasion  of  her  beloved  France  by  the 
Teuton  hordes.  The  widow  of  Napoleon  III.  lived 
through  a  period  of  emotion  that  opened  all  the  old 
wounds  and  brought  with  graphic  vividness  before 
her  aged  eyes  the  tragic  scenes  she  had  passed  through 
when  France  was  last  invaded.  But  with  that  wonder- 
ful vitality  which  makes  her  such  an  extraordinarily 
attractive  woman,  even  in  her  old  age,  she  had  inter- 
ested herself  from  its  earliest  beginnings  in  the  romance 
of  her  nephew  with  the  youngest  daughter  of  King 
Leopold,  and  she  had  done  her  best  to  further  its 
cause,  until  at  last  it  had  culminated  in  happiness. 
Eugenie  was  always  somewhat  of  a  matchmaker  ;  she 
kept  an  attentive  eye  on  the  marriages  of  all  the  members 
of  the  Royal  families  of  Europe,  and  was  always  glad 

lOO 


THE    ROYAL    FAMILY    OF    BELGIUM 


THE   BELGIAN   ROYAL  CHILDREN 

when  fate  allowed  her  to  further  an  alliance.  When,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  King  of  Spain  and  Princess  Ena  of 
Battenberg,  matters  quickly  arranged  themselves,  she 
was  ecstatically  happy.  She  always  had  a  warm 
regard  for  the  late  Queen  of  the  Belgians,  Marie 
Henriette,  and  an  equal  affection  was  lavished  on 
the  latter's  child,  who,  on  her  side,  always  gave  the 
widowed  Empress  a  loyal  devotion.  Princess  Clemen- 
tine never  forgot  that  Eugenie  was  the  widow  of  the 
head  of  the  race  to  which  her  husband  belonged,  and 
that  she  represented  a  world  of  great  things  vanished 
into  eternity,  after  having  seemed  to  be  eternal  to  so 
many  people.  Few  suspected  that  the  second  Empire 
was  destined  to  crumble  as  completely  as  the  first. 

The  King  and  Queen  of  the  Belgians  have  three 
lovely  children,  and  although  he  is  still  so  young  the 
world  has  already  speculated  as  to  whom  the  youth- 
ful Leopold,  Duke  of  Brabant,  is  to  marry.  In  Brussels 
it  was  currently  said  that  the  Queen  would  have  liked 
her  son  to  wed  either  an  Austrian  archduchess  or  else 
a  Bavarian  princess.  Both  these  eventualities  are 
now  out  of  the  question,  and  it  is  not  outside  the  limits 
of  probability  that  an  Infanta  of  Spain,  one  of  the 
daughters  of  King  Alphonso,  may  in  time  have  the 
chance  to  become  the  future  Queen  of  the  Belgians. 
This  would  be  a  most  suitable  match  from  every  point 
of  view.  Not  the  least  of  its  advantages  would  be 
the  warm  sympathy  with  which  it  would  be  accepted 
in  England,  where  the  public  will  never  henceforward 
dissociate  itself  from  the  fortunes  of  that  noble 
Belgian   nation,    who,    together   with    its    King    and 

lOI 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Queen,  has  given  such  a  magnificent  example  of  forti- 
tude to  the  world.  This  fact  alone  would  ensure  to  the 
Royal  children  of  Belgium  the  most  august  alliances, 
both  as  regards  position  and  wealth,  while  the  descen- 
dants of  the  Emperor  William,  notwithstanding  all 
his  boasted  power  and  might,  will  never  be  looked  upon 
in  future  as  fit  mates  for  thrones  where  honour  is 
counted  as  worth  and  a  king's  word  must  be  his 
bond. 


1 02 


CHAPTER  VI 
ITALY   AND    SERVIA 

WHEN  the  late  King  Humbert  wedded  his  fair 
cousin,  the  lovely  and  clever  Margherita  of 
Savoy,  the  marriage  was  the  subject  of  a  good  many 
criticisms  not  only  in  Italy  but  also  among  diplomatic 
circles  throughout  Europe.  The  heir  to  what  then 
seemed  to  be  the  tottering  throne  of  Victor  Emmanuel 
found  himself  placed  in  a  most  difficult  position  re- 
garding his  proposed  marriage.  The  principles  of  the 
Savoy  dynasty  prohibited  the  choice  of  a  Protestant 
wife,  and  no  Austrian  Archduchess  or  Spanish  Infanta, 
to  whom  the  Kings  of  Sardinia  had  generally  gone  to 
seek  consorts  for  themselves,  would  have  anything  to 
do  with  the  son  of  the  usurper  who  had  dethroned 
the  Bourbons  at  Naples,  and  the  Habsburgs  at 
Florence  and  Modena,  and  who  then  was  already 
credited  with  the  intention  of  seizing  the  patrimony 
of  the  Catholic  Church. 

The  younger  brother  of  the  Prince  of  Piedmont  had 
evaded  the  difficulty  by  marrying  a  lady  who  did  not 
belong  to  a  Royal  House,  the  Princess  Pozzo  Delia 
Cisterna,  whose  mother  had  been  a  Countess  of  Merode  ; 
but  it  was  felt  at  the  Court  of  Turin  that  the  future 
King  could  hardly  imitate  this  example,  and  Cavour, 

10^ 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

who  was  still  responsible  for  Italian  politics,  insisted  upon 
the  necessity  of  Humbert  choosing  a  princess  of  Blood 
Royal.  When  Cavour  died,  however,  nothing  had  been 
settled  concerning  this  important  question,  and  for  many 
reasons  Victor  Emmanuel  did  not  care  to  renew  it. 
But  at  last  he  also  felt  that  the  matter  could  not  be 
continually  put  off,  and  it  was  then  that  an  Italian 
statesman  lately  deceased,  the  Marquis  Visconti  Venosta, 
bethought  himself  that  there  existed  in  Italy  a  princess 
who  was  in  possession  of  all  the  necessary  requisites 
to  make  her  acceptable  to  the  King  as  a  daughter-in- 
law.  This  girl  was  Prince  Humbert's  cousin,  the  only 
daughter  of  the  late  Duke  of  Genoa,  the  beautiful 
Princess  Margherita,  who  had  just  reached  her  six- 
teenth year. 

At  first  Victor  Emmanuel  did  not  take  kindly  to 
the  idea.  He  disliked  his  sister-in-law,  the  widowed 
Duchess  of  Genoa,  for  many  reasons,  into  which  it  is 
useless  to  enter  here.  Moreover,  he  was  strongly  opposed 
to  marriages  between  first  cousins.  He,  nevertheless, 
was  forced  to  realise  that  to  send  his  heir  to  seek  a 
wife  anywhere  abroad  was  to  expose  him  to  needless 
affronts,  and  so  he  consented  to  the  proposition,  and 
even  condescended  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Duchess,  to 
express  his  desires  concerning  this  important  question. 

The  Duchess  was  delighted,  and  Prince  Humbert 
equally  so.  He  had  been  in  love  with  the  charming 
girl  for  some  time,  but  had  never  dared  hope  to 
win  her  for  his  bride.  He  could  hardly  believe  in  his 
own  happiness  when  told  that  his  father  looked  kindly 
on  their  union. 

104 


VICTOR  EMMANUEL 

The  marriage  was  solemnised  amidst  great  rejoicings 
at  Tm-in,  on  April  22nd,  1868,  and  the  new  Princess  of 
Piedmont  soon  won  for  herself  golden  opinions  all  over 
her  country.  Princess  Margherita,  until  her  wedding, 
had  lived  an  existence  of  complete  seclusion,  which  had 
been  for  the  most  of  the  time  spent  at  Stresa,  on  Lake 
Maggiore,  where  her  mother  had  a  villa  in  which  she 
resided  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  She  had  never 
appeared  at  Court,  where  the  position  of  the  Duchess 
of  Genoa  was,  to  say  the  least,  a  painful  one  since  her 
second  marriage  with  the  Marquis  Rapallo,  which  had 
excited  the  ire  of  Victor  Emmanuel  to  such  a  degree 
that  he  had  threatened  to  deprive  his  sister-in-law  of 
her  title  and  of  her  widow's  dowry,  and,  furthermore, 
to  separate  her  from  her  children. 

It  was  therefore  almost  as  a  stranger  that  the  young 
wife  of  Prince  Humbert  appeared  at  Turin,  and,  for 
some  reason  which  he  never  explained,  Victor  Emmanuel 
objected  to  his  son  remaining  there  after  his  wedding, 
and  sent  the  young  couple  to  Naples,  where  the  palace 
of  Capodimonte  was  put  at  their  disposal.  They  spent 
the  first  two  or  three  years  which  followed  upon  their 
marriage  at  Capodimonte,  and  there  the  Princess  gave 
birth  to  her  only  child,  the  present  King  of  Italy. 

At  Naples  Princess  Margherita  endeared  herself  to 
all  classes  of  the  population,  who  saw  her  depart  with 
great  regret,  and  who  would  have  liked  her  to  settle 
there  permanently.  She  contributed  a  great  deal  to 
make  the  Savoy  dynasty  popular  all  over  Calabria,  and 
throughout  the  southern  provinces.  At  Florence,  how- 
ever,  she   never  felt   quite  at  her  ease,   probably   on 

105 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

account  of  the  many  remembrances  left  there  by 
the  dispossessed  Grand  Dukes  of  Tuscany,  who  had 
more  partisans  than  the  Bourbons  of  Naples,  since 
the  latter  had  long  been  execrated  by  their  former  sub- 
jects. The  Florentine  aristocracy,  too,  did  not  take 
kindly  in  those  days  to  the  House  of  Savoy,  whose 
ambitions  were  considered  to  be  dangerous  to  the  wel- 
fare of  Italy,  and  whose  desire  to  get  hold  of  Rome  did 
not  meet  with  sympathy  among  the  classes  that  did 
not  belong  to  the  Irredentist  party. 

Nevertheless,  the  sweetness  of  the  Princess  Mar- 
gherita  would  most  likely  have  conquered  even  these 
recalcitrant  people,  had  not  events  marched  quicker 
than  one  had  expected,  and  the  war  of  1870  afforded  to 
Victor  Emmanuel  the  opportunity  he  had  been  longing 
for,  to  seize  at  last  the  patrimony  of  the  Church. 
When  this  fact  had  become  accomplished,  and  the 
House  of  Savoy  had  settled  in  the  Quirinal,  the  wisdom 
of  the  statesman  who  had  advised  the  King  to  marry 
his  son  and  heir  to  his  fair-haired  cousin  became  even 
more  evident  than  had  been  the  case  before  this 
important  event.  The  Princess  of  Piedmont  set  her- 
self in  earnest  to  try  and  gain  the  affection  and  the 
regard  of  her  future  subjects,  and  soon  she  won  for 
herself  at  first  ardent  admirers,  and  afterwards  staunch 
partisans.  Thanks  to  her  tact,  her  gentleness,  her 
courtesy,  and  never-failing  kindness,  the  barriers  which 
at  first  had  separated  the  different  circles  of  Roman 
and  Italian  society  into  Black  and  White  parties, 
according  to  whether  they  were  followers  of  the  Pope 
or  of  the  King,  fell  one  by  one,  and  people  who  at 

1 06 


THE   RISE  OF  ITALY 

first  were  shy  of  the  Quirinal  began  to  clamour  to  be 
admitted  to  the  festivals  which  were  regularly  given 
there  during  the  winter  season. 

When  Victor  Emmanuel  died,  the  popularity  of  the 
new  Queen  increased  day  by  day,  owing  largely  to  her 
capability  of  entering  into  the  patriotic  feelings 
which  were  shaking  the  whole  of  Italy  at  this  period  of 
her  transformation  from  a  second-rank  power  into  a 
mighty  kingdom,  and  who,  moreover,  belonging  her- 
self to  the  House  of  Savoy,  would  further  its  aggrandise- 
ment by  all  the  means  within  her  power,  and  with  all 
the  energy  that  was  the  characteristic  of  her  noble  race. 

Her  marriage  with  King  Humbert  had  been  a  per- 
fectly happy  one,  and  successful  from  the  private  as 
well  as  from  the  political  point  of  view.  Unfortunately, 
when  her  son,  the  then  Prince  of  Naples,  attained  the 
age  when  it  became  necessary  to  seek  a  wife  for  him, 
the  same  difficulties  which  had  worried  Victor  Em- 
manuel so  much  at  the  time  of  his  eldest  son's  nuptials 
cropped  up  again,  and  all  the  efforts  of  Italian 
diplomacy  failed  to  persuade  a  Catholic  Princess  to 
unite  her  fate  with  that  of  the  heir  to  the  Italian  throne. 
Once,  when  they  were  nearly  successful,  it  was  the 
Crown  Prince  who  raised  some  objections,  as  the  fiancee 
with  whom  it  was  sought  to  saddle  him  did  not  please 
him,  and  he  declared  to  his  parents  that  he  would 
infinitely  prefer  to  remain  a  bachelor  all  his  life  than 
to  wed  a  woman  whom  he  felt  he  could  never  love. 

Queen  Marglierita  at  last  grew  quite  alarmed  at 
this  obstinacy  of  her  only  son  in  refusing  to  make  the 
slightest   effort   to   find   a   suitable    wife    for    himself. 

107 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

She  was  not  particularly  fond  of  the  young  Duchess 
Helene  of  Aosta,  and  would  not  have  cared  for  her 
children,  if  she  were  to  have  any,  to  succeed  to  the 
Crown.  Hoping  that  the  Prince  of  Naples  might 
chance  to  set  eyes  on  a  girl  capable  of  attracting  his 
fancy  if  he  travelled  about,  she  encouraged  him  in 
his  desire  to  wander  about  the  world.  She  tried,  too, 
to  get  him  to  interest  himself  in  young  ladies  in  general, 
and  to  cultivate  their  conversation.  But  for  a  long 
time  all  her  efforts  in  this  direction  proved  useless, 
until  at  last  one  day  the  Crown  Prince,  whilst  on  a 
journey  of  courtesy  at  Cetigne,  where  he  had  been 
sent  to  return  in  his  father's  name  a  visit  which  the 
Prince  of  Montenegro  had  paid  at  the  Italian  Court, 
saw  the  beautiful  Princess  Helene,  and  lost  his  heart  to 
her  immediately.  She  had  just  arrived  from  Peters- 
burg, where  she  had  been  educated,  together  with 
her  sisters,  at  the  Smolna  convent,  under  the  special 
supervision  of  the  Empress  of  Russia. 

The  Princess  Helene  was  as  remarkable  in  girlhood 
as  she  w'as  later  when  she  became  a  woman.  Not 
only  beautiful  in  features,  she  was  also  intelligent, 
serious,  sweet,  and  simple  in  her  manners  and  in  her 
behaviour.  Cultivated,  too,  she  had  made  excellent 
use  of  her  years  of  study,  and  had  a  great  talent  for 
music.  When  talking  with  the  Prince  of  Naples  she 
quickly  discovered  that  they  had  many  tastes  in 
common,  and  that  their  intelligences  and  characters 
were  sympathetic  to  each  other. 

Nevertheless,  when  the  princely  visitor  left  the 
hospitable  shores  of  Montenegro,  where  he  had  been 

io8 


RELIGIOUS  OBSTACLES 

entertained  with  true  Slav  hospitality,  he  had  not 
spoken  a  word  which  might  have  led  the  young  girl 
to  suspect  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  she,  and  she 
alone,  would  be  his  wife. 

The  fact  was  that  Victor  Emmanuel  was  far  too 
dutiful  a  son  to  attempt  a  step  of  such  magnitude  as 
his  marriage  without  having  previously  ascertained 
the  wishes  of  his  parents  on  the  subject,  and  obtained 
their  agreement  to  his  wishes.  He  therefore  returned 
to  Rome,  instead  of  pursuing  his  journey  to  Syria  and 
the  shores  of  Asia  Minor,  as  had  been  his  intention 
when  he  left  Italy,  and  hastened  to  inform  the  King 
and  Queen  of  the  feelings  which  he  had  conceived 
for  the  dark-eyed  princess,  who,  unknown  to  him, 
was  weeping  her  eyes  out  with  grief  at  having  seen 
him  depart,  as  she  thought,  for  ever. 

King  Humbert  was  not  at  first  quite  pleased  ;  nor 
were  his  ministers  and  advisers,  who  did  not  think 
that  the  daughter  of  a  mushroom  prince,  as  the  ruler 
of  the  Black  Mountain  was  still  considered  to  be  in 
some  quarters,  was  a  good  enough  alliance  for  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Italy.  There  also  existed  another 
impediment  to  his  wishes,  and  that  was  the  religious 
question.  A  schismatic  Queen  would  have  been  quite 
impossible,  and  her  presence  at  t^  e  side  of  an  Italian 
Sovereign  would  never  have  been  acceptable  to  the 
nation,  and  would  seriously  impair  the  popularity  of 
the  dynasty  of  Savoy.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  felt 
that  one  could  hardly  ask  Princess  Helene  to  change 
her  religion,  to  which,  like  all  Orthodox  Greeks,  she 
was    deeply   attached.     Besides,    a   conversion   taking 

109 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

place  under  such  circumstances,  and  required  by  a 
family  who  had  for  half  a  century  been  constantly  at 
war  with  the  Catholic  faith,  might  have  savoured  of 
the  ridiculous  if  not  of  heresy.  The  King  thought  most 
seriously  over  all  these  objections,  and  at  last  declared 
to  his  son  that  he  did  not  very  well  see  how  they 
could  be  overcome,  advising  him  at  the  same  time  to 
think  no  more  of  the  Princess  Hel^ne. 

But  the  young  man  was  not  so  easily  discouraged  ; 
he  sought  his  mother,  to  whom  he  declared  that  he 
would  prefer  giving  up  his  rights  to  the  throne  to  his 
cousin,  the  young  Duke  of  Aosta,  rather  than  renounce 
his  dream  of  future  happiness,  and  he  begged  of  her 
to  use  in  his  favour  the  great  influence  which  she 
wielded  over  the  King. 

Queen  Marghcrita  was  the  fondest  of  mothers,  and, 
apart  from  this,  there  was  nothing  in  the  world  that 
she  more  passionately  desired  than  to  see  her  son 
happily  married.  She  promised  to  do  all  that  lay 
within  her  power  to  obtain  Humbert's  consent,  and 
after  some  trouble  she  at  last  succeeded,  thanks — 
so  it  was  said  at  the  time — to  the  help  of  the  Dowager 
Empress  of  Russia,  who  acted  as  the  fairy  godmother 
on  this  occasion.  Hearing  through  her  niece,  the 
Grand  Duchess  Militza  of  Russia,  a  sister  of  the  Princess 
Helene,  of  the  latter's  romance  with  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Italy,  the  Dowager  Empress  wrote  to  Queen  Mar- 
ghcrita, and,  without  appearing  to  mix  herself  up 
in  a  matter  which  did  not  concern  her,  contrived,  with 
that  tact  which  never  failed  her  on  any  occasion,  to 
say  such  nice  and  kind  things  about  the  young  Mon- 

IIO 


HfiLfiNE  OF  MONTENEGRO 

tenegrin  Princess  that  one  could  read  between  the 
Hnes  that  she  desired  nothing  more  sincerely  than  to 
see  her  enter  the  family  circle  of  the  Quirinal,  and 
the  House  of  Savoy. 

At  last,  after  some  months  of  hesitation,  and  con- 
siderable negotiation  between  Rome  and  Cetigne,  the 
King  announced  to  the  Chambers  that  he  had  given 
his  consent  to  the  alliance  which  his  only  son  desired 
to  make,  and  the  marriage  was  fixed  to  take  place  in 
Rome  in  the  autumn  of  that  same  year,  1896.  The 
Princess  Hel^ne  prepared  herself  for  her  conversion, 
which  was  to  be  solemnised  in  the  ancient  shrine  of 
Bari,  that  boasted  of  being  dedicated  to  St.  Nicholas 
of  Bari,  one  of  the  patrons  of  Montenegro,  and  a 
saint  worshipped  with  much  fervour  by  the  Orthodox 
Church. 

The  Princess  Hel^ne  accomplished  this  important 
action  with  the  same  simplicity  which  she  brought  into 
everything  that  she  did,  and  in  all  the  grave  reso- 
lutions she  was  called  upon  to  take.  She  loved  her 
future  husband  passionately,  and  at  the  same  time 
tenderly  and  devotedly,  and  from  the  moment  when 
she  had  put  her  hand  in  his,  and  told  him  that  she 
would  "be  proud  to  spend  her  future  at  his  side,  she 
had  determined  to  do  everything  to  help  him,  and  to 
induce  the  Italian  nation  to  look  with  indulgent  eyes 
upon  the  marriage  which  he  was  making.  She  knew 
very  well  his  act  was  severely  criticised  in  some  quarters, 
where  it  seemed  a  humiliation  for  the  House  of  Savoy 
to  have  to  seek  a  bride  in  what  was  still  considered  by 
them  to  be  a  semi-savage  country. 

Ill 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

The  expectations  of  the  Crown  Prince  were  reahsed, 
and  he  found  in  his  brunette  wife  the  ideal  companion 
he  had  dreamt  of,  but  never  hoped  to  meet.  The  young 
couple  were  perfectly  happy  together,  and  very  soon 
the  Princess  Hel^ne  not  only  won  the  confidence  of 
her  husband,  but  also  influenced  him  in  no  small  degree. 
She  had  considerable  common  sense,  and,  moreover, 
was  singularly  free  from  every  kind  of  prejudice.  In 
Petersburg  she  had  lived  in  a  most  intellectual  circle, 
and  had  met  at  the  house  of  her  two  sisters,  who  were 
married  to  members  of  the  Imperial  Family,  the  most 
intelligent  and  the  most  remarkable  men  of  which 
Russian  society  could  boast.  This  circumstance  had 
developed  the  naturally  serious  qualities  of  her  char- 
acter, and  had  necessarily  broadened  her  views.  Placed 
in  a  position  which  entailed  upon  her  arduous  duties, 
she  never  flinched  before  any  one  of  them,  and  accepted 
the  difficulties  of  a  situation  which  at  first  was  cer- 
tainly delicate  and  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that 
for  some  years  her  marriage  remained  childless.  Despite 
all  these  circumstances  she  contrived  to  make  herself 
popular,  at  first  only  with  a  small  circle  of  people,  and 
later  on — especially  after  her  conduct  during  the 
terrible  earthquake  of  Messina  had  shown  her  quality 
to  the  world — the  whole  of  the  Italian  nation  suddenly 
realised  the  nobility  of  mind  and  of  heart  that  char- 
acterised their  young  Queen  and  her  devotion  to  her 
duties,  to  her  husband,  and  to  his  people. 

Politically,  the  marriage  of  Victor  Emmanuel  sounded 
the  knell  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  which  was  never  con- 
genial to  his  Queen.     H^l^ne  of  Montenegro  would  not 

J  I  2 


TRIPLE  ALLIANCE  WEAKENED 

have  been  her  father's  daughter  if  she  had  not  cherished 
the  warmest  affection  for  Russia,  to  whom  he  and  his 
people  owed  so  much,  and  where  she  had  been  brought 
up  and  had  met  with  such  kindness.  Hel^ne  was 
also  a  Slav,  enthusiastic  for  the  Slav  cause,  and  she 
had  had  the  opportunity  to  see  Austrian  treachery, 
and  to  appreciate  Austria's  distorted  and  false  politics. 
Her  whole  nature  rose  in  indignation  at  the  duplicity 
with  which  this  Power  had  always  tried  to  disguise 
its  sinister  and  hypocritical  intentions  in  regard  to  the 
Balkans  in  general,  and  especially  in  regard  to  Servia, 
which  it  wished  to  annihilate,  or  at  least  to  render 
entirely  dependent  upon  Austrian  goodwill. 

The  young  Queen,  who,  of  course,  was  a  Monte- 
negrin Princess  by  birth,  felt  the  warmest  sympathy  for 
the  cause  of  the  Servian  nation,  and  this  sympathy  was 
further  increased  when  the  present  King  Peter  was 
called  to  the  throne.  King  Peter's  consort.  Princess 
Zorka,  had  been  the  eldest  sister  of  Queen  Heldne, 
and  when  Zorka  died — which  was  before  her  husband 
ascended  the  throne  of  Servia — Queen  Hel^ne  took 
charge  of  her  three  children,  watching  over  their 
education  and  their  welfare,  and  insisting  that  her 
niece  and  namesake,  the  Princess  Hel^ne,  should  spend 
part  of  her  winters  in  Rome,  where  she  stayed  at  the 
Quirinal,  and  was  treated  by  her  Royal  aunt  with  quite 
a  motherly  tenderness.  The  latter,  though  she  had 
declared  that  she  would  never  mix  herself  up  in  politics, 
was  far  too  clever  not  to  be  initiated  into  their  in- 
tricacies by  the  King,  who  appreciated  her  clear  way 
of  looking  at  things,  and  the  calm  impartiality  of  her 
I  113 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

judgments,  and  "who  liked  to  consult  her  in  every 
important  decision  he  found  himself  called  upon  to 
make.  Unconsciously  to  them  both  the  young  Queen 
came  in  time  to  acquire  a  considerable  influence  over 
the  mind  of  Victor  Emmanuel — an  influence  which  she 
exercised  with  tact  and  discretion,  and  which  cer- 
tainly proved  beneficial  to  the  cause  of  civilisation  and 
of  progress.  In  that  respect  the  marriage  of  the  King 
of  Italy  with  the  Montenegrin  Princess  was  an  event 
of  unusual  magnitude,  which  brought  about  unforeseen 
consequences.  The  Russian  Foreign  Office  had  favoured 
the  marriage,  and  had  brought  such  pressure  to  bear  on 
the  Prince  of  Montenegro  when  at  first  he  had  hesi- 
tated to  allow  his  daughter  to  change  her  religion  that 
he  was  induced  to  look  in  a  kindly  way  upon  the 
abjuration.  This  move  on  the  part  of  Russia  was  a 
master  stroke,  quite  remarkably  judicious  and  far- 
seeing. 

In  all  the  events  of  recent  times  that  have  taken 
place,  the  part  played  by  Italy  has  been  far  more 
important  than  the  public  has  been  allowed  to  guess. 
The  attitude  which  she  has  now  adopted  has  a 
decidedly  favourable  effect  on  the  cause  of  the  Allies  in 
the  gigantic  war  that  is  being  waged  between  Ger- 
many, and  the  nations  who  are  fighting  against  the 
accursed  militarism  that  Prussia  has  introduced,  and  of 
which  she  is  the  incarnation. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  children  of  King  Peter  of 
Servia,  and  of  the  affection  with  which  the  Queen  of 
Italy  has  watched  over  their  childhood.  There  are 
three  of  them,  the  present  Crown  Prince  Alexander, 

114 


A  TERRIBLE  SHADOW 

and  his  elder  brother — who,  by  a  clever  stroke  of 
diplomacy  on  the  part  of  some  people  who  feared  that 
the  impetuosity  of  his  character  might  compromise 
his  country  should  he  ever  reign,  was  induced  to  resign 
his  rights  to  Alexander — and  one  daughter,  the  Princess 
Hel^ne.  The  latter  is  a  charming  girl,  not  so  beauti- 
ful as  her  aunts  and  her  own  mother  had  been,  but 
graceful,  pleasant,  and  extremely  well  brought  up. 
She  enjoyed  quite  a  unique  position  at  Belgrade.  Owing 
to  the  fact  that  there  was  neither  a  Queen  nor  a  Crown 
Princess  there,  it  became  part  of  her  duties  to  take 
their  place,  and  to  do  the  honours  of  her  father's  house 
in  the  capital.  She  acquitted  herself  very  well,  being 
sincerely  liked  by  Society  as  well  as  by  the  diplomats 
accredited  at  the  King's  Court.  What,  however,  she 
preferred  to  everything  else  was  to  go  to  Rome  to 
spend  some  months  with  her  lovely  aunt,  who  was 
always  so  kind  to  her. 

Princess  H61^ne  has  had  more  than  one  offer,  and 
might  easily  have  married  had  she  wished,  but  so  far 
she  has  shown  no  inclination  to  do  so.  Queen  H61^ne, 
however,  thought  differently,  and  would  have  liked 
to  see  her  rule  a  Royal  establishment  where  the  alli- 
ance 'would  bring  advantage  to  the  Karageorgievitch 
dynasty.  Such  a  marriage  would  have  done  much  to 
remove  the  ostracism  the  House  was  subjected  to  by 
other  reigning  houses,  owing  to  the  part  which  it  was 
suspected  to  have  played  in  the  plot  that  had  brought 
about  the  terrible  assassination  of  King  Alexander  and 
his  ill-fated  consort,  Queen  Draga. 

Whilst  Queen  H^l^ne  was  speculating  as  to  whom  she 

"5 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

could  find  who  would  be  worthy  of  her  charmmg  niece, 
and  who  might  fulfil  the  essential  conditions  which 
were  considered  to  be  indispensable  to  any  marriage  that 
she  might  make,  the  Queen  had  occasion  to  see  one  of 
the  most  prominent  of  Servian  statesmen,  M.  Pashitch, 
who,  having  come  on  a  visit  to  Rome,  asked  to  pay 
his  respects  to  her,  and  was  consulted  by  her  on 
this  important  matter.  M.  Pashitch  did  not  hesitate, 
and  told  her  that  if  it  were  only  possible  to  arrange 
a  match  between  the  Princess  Helene  and  a  member 
of  the  Russian  Imperial  Family,  this  event  would 
certainly  help  to  consolidate  the  Karageorgievitch 
dynasty  upon  its  throne,  and  add  immensely  to  its 
prestige  in  Servia. 

This  was,  however,  easier  said  than  done.  With 
the  exception  of  the  Grand  Duke  Peter,  the  husband 
of  the  Princess  Militza  of  Montenegro,  the  eldest  living 
sister  of  the  Queen,  it  was  not  often  that  a  Russian 
Grand  Duke  visited  Italy  and  especially  Rome ;  and 
strange  to  say  he  would  not  consent  to  invite  his 
niece  to  stay  with  him  and  his  wife  at  Petersburg  for 
fear  that  they  might  be  accused  of  wishing  to  marry 
her  off  to  one  or  other  of  the  several  unmarried  Grand 
Dukes  and  Imperial  Princes  who  were  there.  Happily 
for  Queen  Helene,  Fate,  who  had  always  been  kind 
to  her,  came  to  her  help.  The  eldest  son  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Constantine  passed  through  Italy  on  his  way 
to  Greece,  where  he  was  going  to  see  his  aunt,  Queen 
Olga  of  the  Hellenes.  He  made  a  brief  stay  in  Rome, 
and  of  course  came  to  present  his  homage  to  the  King 
and  Queen  of  Italy. 

ii6 


PRINCE  JOHN  OF   RUSSIA 

He  is  a  very  nice  young  man  ;  not  brilliant,  per- 
haps, but  intelligent  in  his  way  ;  honest  and  worthy 
in  every  possible  respeet ;  a  gentleman  in  the  fullest 
meaning  of  that  word,  and  the  heir  to  a  considerable 
fortune.  He  did  not  bear  the  title  of  Grand  Duke, 
being  only  the  great-grandson  of  an  Emperor,  but 
was  styled  a  prince  of  the  Imperial  Blood  with  the 
title  of  Highness.  He  is  also  good-looking,  and  well 
calculated  to  appeal  to  the  feelings  of  a  romantic 
young  girl.  The  Princess  Hel^ne  liked  him  at  once, 
and  tried  to  make  herself  pleasant  to  him — an  effort 
in  which  she  completely  succeeded.  The  Prince  John 
of  Russia  was  soon  head  over  ears  in  love  with  her, 
and  confided  his  feelings  to  the  Queen,  at  first  very 
timidly,  but  with  more  enthusiasm  when  he  was  encour- 
aged. It  was  not  long  before  the  question  of  a  mar- 
riage between  the  two  young  people  came  seriously  to 
be  discussed  ;  it  formed  the  subject  of  many  negotia- 
tions between  Rome,  Petersburg,  and  Belgrade. 

At  last  things  were  settled,  and  the  wedding  was 
celebrated  at  Peterhof  in  the  course  of  the  summer 
of  1911,  in  presence  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  and  of 
the  whole  Imperial  family.  It  was  also  something  of 
a  pohtical  event,  because  the  King  of  Servia,  who 
accompanied  his  daughter  to  Russia,  and  M.  Pashitch, 
who  had  also  travelled  to  Petersburg  for  this  important 
event,  had  long  conversations  with  M.  Sazonoff,  and 
the  other  ministers  of  the  Tsar,  thus  inaugurating  new 
and  warmer  relations  than  those  which  had  preceded 
this  alliance  between  the  Romanoffs  and  the  Kara- 
georgievitchs. 

117 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

King  Peter,  who  is  no  fool,  was  especially  delighted 
with  Princess  H^l^ne's  marriage,  because  it  gave  him 
the  hope  of  being  able  to  bring  about  another  and 
far  more  important  one  :  that  of  his  son,  the  Crown 
Prince,  with  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  Tsar.  I  have 
said  already  that,  as  regards  that  hope,  it  may  yet 
come  to  be  realised  after  the  present  war  comes  to  an 
end,  when  the  brilliant  and  heroic  conduct  of  the  heir 
to  the  Servian  throne  may  win  him  sympathies  which 
he  did  not  obtain  when  last  he  visited  Petersburg  on 
the  occasion  of  the  christening  of  his  sister's  first- 
born son  in  January,  1914. 

In  general,  after  the  war  is  over,  the  importance 
from  the  matrimonial  point  of  view  of  the  heirs  of  the 
different  Slav  kingdoms  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula  will 
be  far  more  considerable  than  is  the  case  at  present, 
and  their  alliances  will  become  the  subject  of  just  as 
much  speculation  and  negotiation  as  those  of  other 
Crown  Princes,  and  perhaps  even  more  so,  having  regard 
to  what  I  have  already  referred  to  in  connection  with 
German  princes  and  princesses.  It  will  not  be  sur- 
prising, therefore,  if  even  the  Tsar  is  disposed  to  look 
with  favour  upon  an  attempt  to  win  the  heart  of  one 
of  his  daughters  by  either  the  Roumanian  or  the 
Servian  heirs.  As  for  the  Crown  Prince  of  Montenegro, 
he  is  already  married.  The  Princess  Jutta  of  Mecklen- 
burg, the  granddaughter  of  the  Princess  Augusta  of 
Cambridge,  was  very  glad  to  find  him  as  a  husband, 
and  did  not  hope  at  the  time  when  her  wedding  took 
place  that  she  could  ever  become  a  Queen.  Princess 
Jutta  is  a  nice  little  thing,  and  she  has  succeeded  in 

ii8 


A  ROYAL  PEACEMAKER 

making  herself  liked  by  the  rough  Montenegrins,  who 
were  charmed  by  her  blonde  beauty,  and  who  appre- 
ciated the  extreme  dignity  of  her  manners  more  than 
did  her  husband,  who,  if  rumour  is  not  mistaken,  has 
not  always  been  kind  to  her.  They  have  no  children, 
and  the  Crown  will  pass  to  the  King's  second  son, 
Prince  Mirko,  who  is  married  to  a  Russian  lady,  the 
daughter  of  a  certain  Colonel  Constantinovitch,  an  ex- 
ceedingly pretty  woman,  with  whom,  however,  he  also 
does  not  get  on,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  have 
several  children.  In  general,  the  present  Queen  of 
Italy  has  had  considerable  perplexities  with  regard  to 
her  brothers,  whose  conduct  has  not  always  been  every- 
thing that  she  could  have  wished.  Queen  Helene  more 
than  once  has  had  to  come  to  their  help,  either  with  her 
purse  or  with  her  advice.  Especially  has  her  aid  been 
sought  to  soothe  the  just  anger  of  her  father,  who  more 
than  once  declared  that  if  his  sons  did  not  behave 
better  he  would  wash  his  hands  of  them  once  for  all, 
and  forbid  them  to  live  in  their  native  country,  where 
the  different  scandals  of  which  they  were  the  heroes 
were  fast  discrediting  the  dynasty. 

But  King  Nicholas,  if  he  had  reasons  to  complain 
about  his  sons,  could  on  the  other  hand  feel  justly 
proud  of  the  remarkably  good  alliances  which  his 
daughters  had  contracted.  Apart  from  the  Queen  of 
Italy,  whose  marriage  was  exceptionally  brilliant,  the 
other  Princesses  of  Montenegro  were  all  wedded  to  men 
with  numerous  advantages  of  position  and  of  fortune. 
The  eldest,  Mihiza,  became  the  wife  of  the  Grand  Duke 
Peter  Nicolaievitch,  with  whom  she   has  been   always 

119 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

exceptionally  happy.  The  second,  Anastasia,  or  Stana> 
after  a  few  years  of  a  tempestuous  and  stormy  union 
with  Duke  George  of  Leuchtenberg,  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  divorce  from  him,  and  remarried  very  soon 
afterwards  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  the  brother  of 
her  sister's  husband  and  the  present  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Russian  Army.  As  for  the  third  one. 
Princess  Anna,  she  is  the  consort  of  handsome  Prince 
Francis  Joseph  of  Battenberg,  the  brother-in-law  of 
Princess  Beatrice  of  Battenberg,  and  a  most  amiable 
man.  The  Princesses  Xenia  and  Vera  are  still  unmarried, 
and  the  King  is  not  without  hope  that  he  may  yet  in  time 
arrange  a  union  for  one  or  the  other  of  them  with 
another  member  of  the  Russian  Imperial  Family,  either 
one  of  the  sons  of  that  same  Grand  Duke  Constantine 
who  is  the  father-in-law  of  the  Princess  H^l^ne  of 
Servia,  or  with  one  of  the  boys  of  the  Grand  Duke 
Alexander  and  of  the  Grand  Duchess  Xenia,  the  sister 
of  the  Tsar.  He  has  been  so  lucky  hitherto  in  the 
establishment  of  his  children  that  he  is  in  a  certain 
sense  justified  in  indulging  in  such  an  ambition  ;  and 
one  thing  is  certain,  and  that  is,  that  if  such  a  marriage 
ever  takes  place  it  will  be  immensely  popular  in 
Russia,  where  Montenegro  and  its  ruler  are  in  possession 
of  the  warmest  sympathies,  and  count  far  more  partisans 
than  is  generally  known  in  the  rest  of  Europe. 


120 


CHAPTER  VII 
GREECE,  ROUMANIA  AND   BULGARIA 

THERE  are  other  Balkan  States  beyond  Servia  and 
Montenegro  where  the  marriages  of  the  rulers  of 
the  reigning  dynasties  have  had  considerable  influence 
on  the  destinies  of  their  particular  countries. 

Greece  was  the  first  of  them  to  attain  to  some 
importance,  by  the  election  of  Prince  William  of 
Denmark  to  the  throne,  whose  family  alliances  gave  him 
an  exceptionally  strong  position.  From  the  period  when 
the  children  of  the  King  reached  a  marriageable  age, 
Greece  was  a  place  toward  which  the  glances  of  mothers 
with  daughters  were  directed  with  longing  and  anxiety. 
Greece  was  a  peaceful  country,  too,  wisely  administered, 
and,  in  spite  of  several  most  foolish  wars  in  which  it 
had  got  entangled,  had  succeeded  in  keeping  free  from 
internal  revolutions  such  as  had  shaken  and  threatened 
the  existence  of  its  neighbours.  The  Royal  family 
had  so  many  powerful  connections  that  it  was  hardly 
likely  Greece  could  ever  come  to  grief,  even  if  its  popu- 
larity became  impaired,  as  in  fact  it  did,  a  few  years 
ago,  after  the  unsuccessful  war  which  had  been  waged 
against  Turkey.  King  George  was  a  wise  man  in  his 
generation,  and  he  had  shown  it  from  the  first  day 
of  his  election  to  the  throne  of  the  Hellenes,  when  he 

121 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

had  taken  to  himself  for  a  consort  the  Grand  Duchess 
Olga  Constantinovna  of  Russia,  one  of  the  loveliest 
girls  in  Europe. 

This  marriage  had  been  arranged  for  him  partly 
through  the  influence  of  his  sister,  the  wife  of  the 
Russian  heir-apparent,  who  was  later  on  to  become 
the  Empress  Marie  Feodorovna.  The  Princess  of  Wales, 
afterwards  Queen  Alexandra,  also  had  a  good  deal  to 
do  with  the  matter. 

The  Grand  Duchess  Olga  was  the  niece  of  the  Tsar 
Alexander  II.  ;  she  had  an  enormous  dowry,  which 
the  generosity  of  her  uncle  had  increased,  when  he 
consented  to  her  becoming  a  Queen.  Politics  had  had 
just  as  much  to  do  with  this  marriage  as  personal 
affection,  which,  however,  was  not  missing  from  it, 
because  the  young  King  had  become  passionately 
attached  to  his  beautiful  bride,  and  the  marriage  turned 
out  a  very  happy  one,  even  after  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  first  months  had  disappeared.  Queen  Olga  made 
herself  very  popular  in  Greece,  where  Russian  sym- 
pathies had  always  been  strong,  and  where  the  fact 
that  the  consort  of  the  Sovereign  happened  to  belong 
to  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church  added  a  great  deal  to 
the  feelings  of  affection  which  she  inspired.  When 
her  eldest  son  was  born,  and  received  the  name  of 
Constantin,  which  an  ancient  legend  associated  with 
the  hopes  of  a  Greek  monarch  reigning  once  more  in 
antique  Byzantium,  the  enthusiasm  which  the  event 
excited  was  quite  unprecedented,  even  in  a  country 
where  passions  are  so  fierce  as  they  are  in  the  kingdom 
of  the  Hellenes.     And  as  the  numerous  children  of  the 

122 


GREECE  AND   RUSSIA 

Queen  grew  up  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  the  Greeks 
felt  that  considerable  national  advantages  might  come 
from  the  marriages  the  Royal  children  were  likely  to 
make. 

Queen  Olga  was  essentially  Russian  in  her  sym- 
pathies, and  she  remained  more  strongly  attached 
to  the  land  of  her  birth  than  perhaps  some  of 
her  subjects  liked ;  they  reproached  her  sometimes, 
indeed,  with  spending  too  much  of  her  time  in  Russia. 
Though  the  Queen  made  herself  intensely  respected, 
and  though  she  was  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her,  as 
I  have  had  occasion  to  say  before,  still  certain 
people  began  to  criticise  her  and  also  her  political 
opinions  ;  and  she  was  reproached  for  trying  to  make 
Greece  the  humble  servant  of  Russia.  It  was  feared 
especially  by  these  troubled  souls  that  she  would  try 
her  best  to  make  her  children  marry  in  the  land  of  her 
birth,  and  what  confirmed  this  idea  was  the  care  which 
she  took  to  teach  them  Russian,  and  to  inspire  them 
with  affection  for  everything  that  belonged  to  that 
country. 

King  George  was  the  only  one  who  felt  no  fear  as 
to  the  Slav  leanings  and  sympathies  of  his  wife.  He 
knew"'  that  she  was,  above  everything  else,  a  woman 
of  duty,  and  that  she  would  never  allow  her  personal 
feelings  to  interfere  in  matters  of  State.  When  his 
eldest  son  arrived  at  an  age  when  it  became  necessary 
to  give  him  some  inkling  of  what  was  going  on  in  other 
countries,  so  as  to  prepare  him  for  his  duties  in  the 
future,  he  decided  to  send  him  to  Berlin  in  order  to 
have   him   trained   there   from   the   military   point   of 

123 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

view.  He  arranged  with  the  Emperor  William  I., 
who  was  still  alive  at  the  time,  to  establish  the 
Crown  Prince  in  Potsdam,  where  he  was  to  enter  the 
First  Regiment  of  the  Prussian  Foot  Guards  as  a 
lieutenant. 

The  Duke  of  Sparta,  for  such  was  the  official  title 
of  Prince  Constantin,  spent  rather  over  two  years  in 
Germany,  and  was  often  invited  to  the  house  of  the 
then  Crown  Prince  and  Crown  Princess.  He  saw  a 
good  deal  of  their  younger  daughters  ;  Princess  Sophy 
was  about  seventeen  years  old  at  the  time.  If  not 
regularly  beautiful,  she  was  still  pleasing  and  agree- 
able and  immensely  clever.  The  two  young  people 
quickly  became  attracted  to  each  other,  to  the  secret 
pleasure  of  the  future  Emperor  Frederick  and  of  his 
consort,  to  whom  the  idea  of  seeing  their  daughter 
become  one  day  a  Queen  appealed  extremely.  But  the 
illness  and  subsequent  death  of  the  Emperor  prevented 
the  Duke  of  Sparta  from  making  any  avowal  of  his 
affection  to  the  youthful  princess,  and  it  was  some- 
thing like  two  years  later,  after  the  mourning  for 
Frederick  III.  was  over,  that  he  decided  to  speak  to 
William  II.,  and  also  to  the  Princess  herself,  to 
ask  her  to  honour  him  by  becoming  his  wife. 

William  II.  was  delighted.  He  already  had  his  eye 
upon  the  Near  East,  and  the  thought  of  having  a  sister 
sharing  the  throne  of  Athens  appealed  to  his  imagina- 
tion, and  opened  to  him  visions  of  the  future.  Conse- 
quently he  gave  a  joyful  consent,  stipulating,  however, 
that  his  sister  was  to  be  allowed  to  retain  her  religion. 
The  Emperor   William   II.   accompanied   his   sister  to 

124 


WILLIAM  II.  VISITS  GREECE 

Athens,  where  her  marriage  was  solemnised  with  great 
pomp. 

There  is  one  curious  incident  connected  with  this 
journey  of  WilUam  II.  to  Greece,  which,  so  far  as  is 
known  to  me,  has  never  become  pubhc  property. 
When  he  arrived  on  board  his  yacht  in  the  Piraeus, 
he  donned  the  uniform  of  a  British  admiral ;  no  one 
ever  could  understand  for  what  reason,  as  England 
and  Russia  were  not  upon  the  best  of  terms  at  that 
period.  There  were  some  ill-natured  people,  indeed, 
who  declared  that  it  was  done  to  vex  Queen  Olga, 
who  was  known  to  head  the  Russian  party  at  Athens. 

The  marriage  of  the  Duke  of  Sparta  with  the  sister 
of  the  German  Emperor  was  supposed  to  be  an  event 
of  unusual  political  importance,  and  columns  upon 
columns  were  written  upon  it  in  the  newspapers  of 
the  world,  whilst  it  caused  grave  diplomats  to  con- 
sider anxiously  what  eventual  consequences  it  might 
have  whenever  the  Near  Eastern  question  happened 
to  be  raised.  Timorous  people  saw  already  the  Prussian 
Eagle  installed  at  Athens,  and  one  prophesied  that 
the  German  sympathies  of  the  Crown  Prince,  together 
with  the  influence  of  his  wife,  would  draw  the  kingdom 
of  the  Hellenes  into  the  closest  and  most  intimate 
relations  with  the  German  Empire. 

All  these  prophecies  turned  out  to  be  quite  false, 
because  something  like  eighteen  months  after  her 
marriage  the  Duchess  of  Sparta,  having  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  most  awkward  for  a  future 
Queen  not  to  belong  to  the  same  creed  as  the  country 
over  which  she  would  have  to  reign  one  day,  publicly 

125 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

renounced  the  Protestant  faith,  and  adopted  the  tenets 
of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church.  This  step  infuriated 
her  brother,  who,  after  having  written  violent  letters 
to  her  and  done  his  best  to  dissuade  her  from  the 
step,  declared  that  he  would  have  nothing  more  to 
do  with  her.  He  forbade  her  ever  to  come  back  to 
Berlin,  or  to  dare  set  her  foot  in  any  one  of  his  houses 
again ;  and  though  the  Empress  Frederick  pleaded 
the  cause  of  her  favourite  daughter,  it  was  of  no  avail ; 
he  would  not  retract  the  severe  sentence  which  he 
had  pronounced. 

For  nine  years  or  so  the  brother  and  sister  did  not 
set  eyes  upon  each  other.  Then  came  the  illness  of 
the  Empress  Frederick,  and  at  her  deathbed  a  recon- 
ciliation took  place  between  them,  and  the  Crown 
Princess  of  Greece  was  seen  once  more  at  the  Berlin 
Court ;  she  even  took  up  her  abode  in  Germany,  at 
the  time  when  political  events  obliged  the  Crown  Prince 
to  live  abroad  until  the  remembrance  of  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  war  with  Turkey  had  passed 
away.  The  German  Emperor  in  the  meanwhile  had 
become  wiser,  and  bethought  himself  that  it  might 
not  ultimately  prove  to  the  advantage  of  Germany 
to  be  on  bad  terms  with  the  Hellenic  kingdom,  and 
that  it  would  be  better  to  resume  the  relations  that 
had  formerly  existed.  Black  clouds  were  already 
obscuring  the  horizon  in  the  Balkans,  and  the  ambitions 
of  Prince  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria  were  beginning  to 
preoccupy  the  various  chancelleries  of  Europe.  All 
these  circumstances  put  together  decided  William  II. 
to    forget    his  wrath    and  to   forgive    his  sister  what, 

126 


PRUSSIA  OFFERS  HELP 

in  the  first  moments  of  his  fury,  he  had  declared  to  have 
been  an  action  of  which  a  traitor  alone  could  have 
been  guilty. 

Nevertheless,  the  apprehensions  of  those  wise 
diplomats  who  had  felt  sure  that  the  marriage  of  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Greece  with  a  Princess  of  Prussia 
would  mean  the  end  of  Russian  influence  in  the  Hellenic 
kingdom,  turned  out  to  have  been  groundless.  During 
the  recent  Balkan  war,  it  was  to  Petersburg  and  to 
Paris  or  London  that  the  Greek  Government  turned 
for  advice  and  protection,  and  it  was  there  that  it  con- 
fided the  secret  designs  which  it  nourished  in  regard 
to  Constantinople  and  the  Straits.  Berlin  was  forgotten, 
or,  at  least,  treated  as  a  negligible  quantity. 

When  King  George  was  murdered  at  Salonika, 
William  II.  at  once  telegraphed  to  his  sister  and 
brother-in-law  to  assure  them  of  his  readiness  to  further, 
to  the  best  of  his  ability,  any  plans  they  might  feel 
inclined  to  make.  He  received  a  most  polite  reply, 
but  that  was  all.  At  that  time  M.  Venizelos  was  in 
power,  and  he  would  have  restrained  the  King  from 
committing  himself  in  any  way,  even  if  the  latter  had 
wanted  to  do  so.  This  wise  politician  nourished  other 
ambitions,  and  being  perhaps  more  convinced  than 
most  statesmen  that  the  family  ties  of  sovereigns 
have  a  good  deal  to  do  with  their  political  convictions, 
he  wanted  to  arrange  an  alliance  between  the  new 
Crown  Prince  of  the  Hellenes  and  the  Princess  Elisabeth 
of  Roumania,  his  cousin. 

There  was  one  moment  when  the  plan  seemed  likely 
to    succeed,    but    then    other    complications    occurred, 

127 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

and  objections  were  raised  at  Athens  as  well  as  at 
Bucharest.  The  new  Queen  of  Roumania,  though 
she  had  been  wedded  herself  at  sixteen,  declared  that 
she  did  not  approve  of  too  early  marriages.  Queen 
Sophy,  too,  expressed  herself  as  more  eager  to  see  the 
future  of  her  eldest  daughter,  the  Princess  Hel^ne, 
settled  than  that  of  her  son,  whom  she  considered 
as  still  too  young  to  take  unto  himself  a  wife.  If 
the  truth  need  be  told,  they  wanted  at  Athens  to  keep 
matters  hanging  on  so  as  to  have  the  possibility  of 
arranging  a  match  between  the  Crown  Prince  and 
one  of  the  daughters  of  the  Tsar — an  ambition  which 
the  Queen,  though  a  Prussian  princess  by  birth, 
cherished  quite  as  much  as  did  her  mother-in-law, 
the  Dowager  Queen  Olga  Constantinovna. 

In  Bucharest,  those  in  highest  places  were  well 
aware  of  the  secret  reasons  which  made  the  Greek 
Royal  Family  show  some  diffidence  towards  the  possi- 
bility of  a  Roumanian  marriage  for  its  heir,  and  the 
young  Queen  Marie  felt  deeply  hurt  at  what  she  termed 
"  such  duplicity."  She  would  have  liked  to  have  the 
knowledge  that  her  eldest  daughter  had  married 
advantageously,  but  she  did  not  care  to  settle  irrev- 
ocably her  son's  future,  and  she  had  been  made  to 
understand  that  if  she  consented,  and  induced  the 
King  to  consent,  to  the  Crown  Prince  becoming  engaged 
to  the  Princess  Helene  of  Greece,  her  own  girl  would 
have  a  greater  chance  to  become  the  Queen  of  the 
Hellenes.  A  curious  and  rather  disgraceful  kind  of 
bargaining  was  going  on  simultaneously  at  Athens  and 
at  Bucharest,  with  the  probable  result  that  the  hopes 

128 


KING  FERDINAND  OF  BULGARIA 

and  plans  of  politicians  and  leaders  of  parties  in  both 
these  places  were  bound  to  collapse  and  crumble  to 
pieces,  as  is  so  often  the  case  with  things  that  are  too 
cleverly  contrived. 

If  the  Greek  heir-apparent  showed  some  hesitation 
in  asking  the  Princess  Elisabeth  of  Roumania  to  be- 
come his  wife,  there  was  another  personage  who  would 
have  given  a  good  deal  to  induce  her  to  look  in  his 
direction.  King  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria  had  had  his 
eye  upon  her  for  a  long  time  as  a  possible  bride  for  his 
eldest  son.  Undoubtedly  such  an  alliance  would  have 
won  many  friends  to  the  Coburg  dynasty,  and  helped 
to  consolidate  it  upon  its  newly-won  throne.  The  King, 
who  is  clever,  and  one  of  the  most  intriguing  politi- 
cians of  his  generation,  had  already  in  the  matter  of 
his  own  marriages  carefully  selected  his  two  wives, 
choosing  princesses  whose  family  connections  might 
prove  of  use  to  him  in  the  ambitious  schemes  which 
he  had  nursed  from  the  first  day  he  had  set  foot  upon 
Bulgarian  soil.  His  first  consort,  the  Princess  Marie 
Louise  of  Parma,  was  a  sweet  woman,  not  perhaps 
excessively  intelligent,  but  kind,  good,  and  conscien- 
tious, who  had  brought  as  a  dowry  not  only  a 
considerable  sum  of  money,  but  also  the  prestige  of 
that  great  Bourbon  name  which,  in  spite  of  all  its 
misfortunes  and  vicissitudes,  still  exercised  some  attrac- 
tion and  influence  on  the  crowd.  He  had  made  her 
very  unhappy  by  his  selfishness  and  brutality,  so  that 
when  she  was  dying  she  expressed  her  relief  at  having 
to  leave  a  world  which  had  proved  so  hard  to  her. 
After  her  demise,  Ferdinand  decided,  at  first,  to  remain 
J  129 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

a  widower,  and  never  again  to  give  himself  the  trouble 
of  having  a  wife  before  whom  he  would  have  to  observe, 
at  least,  the  outward  convenances  which  society  and 
a  good  education  required  from  every  man  who  had 
the  least  desire  to  be  called  a  gentleman.  He  was 
fond  of  his  liberty,  fonder  still  of  his  independence, 
and  did  not  care  to  abandon  it  to  the  caprices  of  a 
young  girl,  who  would  expect  him  to  treat  her  with  a 
respect  which  the  unfortunate  Princess  of  Parma  had 
been  far  too  weak  and  timid  to  compel.  He  engaged 
an  excellent  governess  for  his  two  daughters,  who, 
besides,  had  the  advantage  of  remaining  under  the 
immediate  supervision  and  control  of  the  Princess 
Clementine  of  Coburg,  their  grandmother.  He  there- 
after began  leading  the  existence  of  a  gay  bachelor. 

So  long  as  his  mother,  the  Princess  Clementine, 
was  alive  this  was  relatively  easy  for  him  to  do  ;  but 
when  she  died  he  began  to  feel  that  the  Palace  of  Sophia, 
as  well  as  his  summer  residence  of  Euxinograd,  wanted 
a  mistress  to  do  the  honours  of  those  two  lovely  places. 
His  girls  were  still  children,  and  also  required  to  be 
chaperoned  by  someone  of  nearer  interest  than  a 
lady-in-waiting.  He  felt  besides  that  the  plans  he  had 
nursed  for  such  a  long  time  were  beginning  to  mature, 
and  that  when  he  would  be  proclaimed  King  the  pres- 
ence of  a  Queen  at  his  side  would  become  a  State 
necessity.  Therefore,  during  the  frequent  excursions 
which  he  was  continually  undertaking  abroad,  he 
looked  round  him  in  order  to  find  a  princess  worthy, 
in  his  opinion,  of  sharing  with  him  the  crown  he  was 
about  to  put  on  his  head,  and  at  the  same  time  willing 

130 


A  KINDLY  FATE 

to  do  so.  This  last  was  by  no  means  an  easy  matter, 
thanks  to  the  reputation  he  had  managed  to  acquire. 
He  would  never  have  consented  to  ally  himself  to 
a  lady  who  could  not  boast  of  the  bluest  blood  in 
Christendom,  and  he  required  also  a  wife  intellect- 
ually able  to  hold  her  own,  and  to  help  him  in  the 
vast  political  designs  he  was  nourishing  in  the  secrecy 
of  his  heart. 

Fate  was  kind  to  him,  and  brought  him  to  the  feet 
of  Princess  Eleonore  of  Reuss  Kostritz,  a  cousin  of 
the  Grand  Duchess  Vladimir  of  Russia.  She  was  no 
longer  young — indeed,  was  not  very  far  from  her 
fiftieth  birthday — but  she  was  clever,  extremely  amiable, 
possessed  the  most  dignified  manners,  and  had  spent 
the  best  years  of  her  life  engaged  in  charitable  works, 
having  won  for  herself  the  reputation  of  a  person 
whose  whole  soul  was  vested  in  the  task  of  relieving 
the  miseries  of  mankind.  When  the  Manchurian 
War  broke  out  she  started  for  the  distant  plains 
where  it  was  being  fought,  and  there,  as  a  sister  of  the 
Red  Cross,  had  worked  with  the  utmost  devotion. 
She  was  not  rich,  but  highly  connected,  and  through 
her  cousins  had  an  easy  entree  in  all  the  Courts  of 
Europe,  where  from  her  earliest  youth  she  had  been 
welcomed  with  affection  and  respect.  When  Prince 
Ferdinand,  as  he  still  was  at  the  time,  saw  her,  he 
made  up  his  mind  at  once  that  she  would  make  him 
an  ideal  consort,  and  forthwith  proposed  to  her. 

To  his  surprise  his  offer  was  not  received  with 
enthusiasm.  The  Princess  Eleonore  was  no  fool,  and 
she   understood   perfectly   well   the   reasons   that   had 

131 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

induced  her  unexpected  suitor  to  wish  for  the  honour 
of  her  hand.  She  knew,  that  in  marrying  her,  he  imagined 
he  was  acquiring  the  protection  and  the  sympathies  of 
the  Russian  Court  as  well  as  those  of  Austria  and 
Germany,  and  that  he  was  actuated  more  by  political 
motives  than  by  anything  else.  But  she  was  also  a 
woman  of  wide  good  sense,  and  of  strong  character, 
who  felt  herself  quite  capable  of  holding  her  own, 
even  against  such  a  despot  as  Prince  Ferdinand  was 
supposed  to  be.  She  asked  for  time  to  make  up  her 
mind,  and  at  last  decided  that  the  adventure  was 
well  worth  the  trying,  and  that  in  the  worst  of  cases 
she  could  always  come  back  to  her  old  home,  where 
her  numerous  nephews  and  nieces  would  give  her 
a  warm  welcome.  This  marriage,  which  from  both 
sides  was  entirely  a  political  affair,  was  celebrated  at 
Coburg  on  February  28th,  1908,  and  the  newly  married 
Princess  was  taken  in  great  pomp  by  her  husband  to 
Sophia,  where  she  made  a  solemn  and  ceremonious 
entry.  She  very  quickly  found  herself  at  home  there, 
and  ruled  the  household  of  Prince  Ferdinand  with  a 
firm  but  at  the  same  time  a  liberal  hand. 

Her  husband  soon  found  out  that  she  did  not  in- 
tend to  be  treated  as  a  nonentity,  but  meant  to  make 
herself  obeyed  in  all  matters  with  which  she  was  directly 
concerned.  She  advised  him  most  sensibly,  and  by  her 
unfailing  tact  prevented  him  falling  into  many  mistakes 
through  his  hot  and  hasty  temper.  People  respected 
her,  and  she  was  generally  considered  as  the  best 
friend  not  only  that  her  husband  but  also  that  Bul- 
garia   had.     She    was    ambitious    but    just ;     a    mean 

132 


A  POLITICAL  AFFAIR 

action  would  be  impossible  for  her  to  commit,  and 
she  would  never  lend  herself  to  duplicity,  even  in 
politics. 

The  Prince  was  not  in  the  least  in  love  with  her. 
His  nature  was  so  selfish  and  so  lazy  that  it  seemed 
hardly  probable  he  would  ever  indulge  in  genuine 
sentiments  of  affection  for  anyone.  But  he  was  keenly 
sensible  of  the  fact  that  she  would  prove  an  invaluable 
help  to  him  in  the  future,  especially  when  he  suc- 
ceeded— as  he  fondly  believed  he  would — in  effecting 
his  entry  into  Constantinople  in  the  quality  of  an 
Eastern  Emperor.  When  the  war  broke  out  with 
Bulgaria  and  Servia  against  Turkey,  he  sought  her 
advice  and  followed  it — at  least  for  a  time.  But  when 
Adrianople  was  taken,  the  King  lost  his  balance,  and 
piled  one  mistake  upon  another,  with  the  disastrous 
result  that  Bulgaria  was  beaten  by  her  former  allies, 
and  that  by  the  Treaty  of  Bucharest  she  was  deprived 
of  most  of  the  advantages  which  she  had  won  through 
her  successful  campaign  against  Turkey. 

After  peace  had  been  concluded,  King  Ferdinand 
naturally  looked  about  for  the  means  to  neutralise  the 
bad  effect  which  the  conditions  had  had  for  him.  And 
at  this  juncture  he  bethought  himself  that,  having 
a  son  of  an  age  to  marry,  he  could  not  find  him  a  more 
suitable  bride  than  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  new 
King  and  Queen  of  Roumania. 

He  therefore  applied  himself  to  win  over  not  only 
the  Roumanian  cabinet,  but  also  the  Queen,  by  whom 
he  was  intensely  disliked,  as  he  knew  very  well.  To 
achieve  his  end  he  began  a  series  of  intrigues,  which 

133 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

have  more  than  one  chance  of  proving  successful  in 
the  long  run. 

As  will  be  seen  from  all  that  I  have  just  revealed, 
it  is  the  members  of  the  Royal  family  of  Roumania 
who  are  at  the  present  moment  the  principal  figures 
in  the  marriage  markets  of  Europe.  All  the  other 
Balkan  kingdoms  are  eager  to  unite  themselves  with 
the  Roumanian  Royal  Family,  if  only  in  order  to  influ- 
ence Roumanian  politics  and  to  force  them  to  bring 
their  weight  to  bear  on  the  course  of  events  in  the 
Near  East. 

Roumania  to-day  holds  the  key  to  the  international 
situation,  now  that  Italy  has  resolutely  declared  herself 
on  the  side  of  the  Allies  ;  and  it  is  but  natural  that, 
looking  at  things  from  this  particular  point  of  view, 
Greece,  Servia,  and  Bulgaria  should  try  to  enlist  her 
sympathies  in  order  to  achieve,  with  her  help,  or  through 
her  determination  to  remain  strictly  neutral,  the 
ambitious  designs  they  have  been  nursing  in  the  silence 
of  their  souls.  Bulgaria  especially  has  never  renounced 
her  dreams  to  establish  herself  at  Constantinople  as  the 
successor  of  the  Palaeologues  and  the  Porphyrogenetes  ; 
and  the  only  serious  opposition  she  thinks  she  has 
to  dread  is  that  of  Roumania,  who,  if  she  were  to 
favour  Greece,  would  most  certainly  put  a  very  effective 
spoke  in  the  wheels  of  King  Ferdinand's  chariot.  If, 
on  the  contrary,  a  Roumanian  princess  were  to  reside 
at  Sophia,  it  would  be  most  difficult  for  Roumania 
to  exercise  her  influence  in  favour  of  the  pretensions 
of  Greece. 

The  only  thing  which  might  favour  this  ambitious 

134 


RUSSIA  AND  THE  BALKANS 

design  is  the  circumstance  that  the  King  and  Queen 
of  Roumania  have  six  children,  and  among  them  tliree 
daughters  whose  religion  does  not  make  them  easy 
to  marry.  Barring  the  hope  of  seeing  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Greece  propose  to  one  of  them,  the  heir  to  the 
Bulgarian  throne  would  not  be  such  a  bad  parti  for 
one  of  the  princesses,  and  thus  family  affection  and 
parental  solicitude  play  not  a  small  part  in  the  quarrels 
which  divide  the  different  populations  of  the  Balkan 
Peninsula,  and  set  them  one  against  the  other. 

A  curious  thing,  however,  must  not  be  lost  sight  of, 
which  proves  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  that  have 
been  made  to  shake — if  not  to  destroy — Russian 
prestige  in  the  Near  East,  the  attempt  has  completely 
failed.  It  is  the  general  wish  and  hope,  which  is  to 
be  observed  at  Athens,  as  well  as  at  Bucharest  and  at 
Sophia,  that  the  powerful  Russian  Tsar  should  allow 
one  of  his  daughters  to  allv  herself  to  the  future  monarch 
of  Roumania,  and  thus  forge  fresh  links  between  her 
and  the  populations  whom  "  Mother  Russia "  has 
helped  to  free  from  the  Turkish  yoke. 

Among  the  members  of  the  Greek  Royal  Family 
there  is  none  who  is  in  the  possession  of  greater  popu- 
larity* in  her  adopted  country  than  the  wife  of  the 
present  King's  third  brother,  the  Princess  Helene,  the 
daughter  of  the  Grand  Duke  Vladimir  ;  and  this  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Russian  sympathies  of  her 
mother-in-law.  Queen  Olga,  were  at  one  time  severely 
criticised.  It  is  to  be  noted,  by  the  way,  that  Queen 
Olga  herself  was  so  incensed  with  these  criticisms  that 
since  the  war  broke  out  she  has  refused  to  return  to 

135 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Athens,  but  has  remained  in  Russia,  not  wishing  that 
the  position  of  her  son  might  be  embarrassed,  or  com- 
promised by  her  presence,  at  a  moment  when  he  re- 
quired to  remain  absolutely  free  as  to  any  decisions 
he  might  find  himself  called  upon  to  make  in  the 
interests  of  his  monarchy. 

While  referring  to  the  brothers  of  King  Constantine 
as  well  as  their  marriages,   I  must  say  a  word  con- 
cerning   Prince    George   and   what   at    the   time   was 
called  his  extraordinary  match.      He  was  supposed  to 
be  in   love   with   one  of  his   English  cousins,   whom, 
however,  he  could  not  marry  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the   Greek   Orthodox   Church   does   not  admit   unions 
between  near  relations,  and  is  less  indulgent  in  this 
respect  than  the  Russian  branch,  with  whom  arrange- 
ments can  be  made.     For  a  long  time  the  young  man 
appeared  to  be  quite  inconsolable,  until  at  last,  during 
one  of  his  frequent  journeys  to  Paris,  he  came  across 
the  pretty  and  clever  Princess  Marie  Bonaparte,  the 
daughter  of  Prince  Roland  and  of  Mademoiselle  Blanc, 
whose  father   had   been   the   creator   of  Monte   Carlo 
and  of  its  famous  Casino,  which  venture  had  allowed 
him  to  build  up  a  huge  fortune  that  passed  to  his 
three  children.     The  Princess  Roland  died  when  giving 
birth  to  her  daughter,  who  on  her  attaining  her  majority 
found  herself  one  of  the  greatest  heiresses  in  Europe. 
Princess  Marie  might  have  married  long  before  chance 
threw  her  into  the  way  of  Prince  George,  but  she  had 
snubbed  all  her  admirers  with  more  or  less  impertinence, 
declaring  that  she  would  only  wed  with  a  member  of 
a  reigning  dynasty.     This  event,  however,  did  not  seem 

136 


GEORGE  OF    GREECE   MARRIES 

a  very  likely  one,  owing  to  the  fact  that  her  pedigree 
left  much  to  be  desired,  and  the  idea  of  seeing  the 
grandchild  of  the  owner  of  the  largest  gambling  den 
in  the  world  mate  with  Royalty  shocked  the  ultra- 
loyalist  feelings  of  monarchists  in  general. 

Prince  George,  however,  showed  himself  a  man  above 
vulgar  prejudices,  and  reflecting  that,  after  all,  he  was 
not  marrying  the  daughter  of  Mile.  Blanc  but  that 
of  Prince  Bonaparte,  he  asked  the  hand  of  the  haughty 
heiress,  and  was  immediately  accepted.  The  wedding 
took  place  at  Athens,  and  the  young  couple  lived  there 
for  some  time — at  least,  for  a  part  of  the  year ;  but  soon 
the  Princess  Marie  got  weary  of  contemplating  con- 
tinually the  ruins  of  the  Acropolis,  and  began  sighing  for 
the  Paris  boulevards,  the  Avenue  du  Bois,  Longchamps 
and  Auteuil,  and  Parisian  pleasures,  as  well  as  for  the 
vast  and  beautiful  palace  which  Prince  Roland  had 
built  for  himself  in  the  Avenue  d'lena,  where  the 
apartments  formerly  occupied  by  his  daughter  remained 
always  ready  and  waiting  for  her.  She  gradually  spent 
less  time  in  Greece  and  more  in  France,  and  succeeded 
in  transforming  her  husband  into  a  finished  boule- 
vardier — at  least,  this  is  what  one  hears.  On  the 
other ''hand  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  are  things 
which  go  far  towards  proving  that  these  sayings  are 
nothing  but  gossip,  because  Prince  and  Princess  George 
of  Greece  are  both  very  fond  of  Denmark,  and  make 
long  sojourns  there.  Lately,  and  since  the  war  broke 
out,  they  have  stopped  in  Copenhagen  for  a  consider- 
able time,  and  it  is  rumoured  from  other  sources  than 
those  who  attribute  to  them  an  inordinate  love  for 

137 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

the  French   capital   that   they  would   like  to   have  a 
regular  home  on  Danish  shores. 

It  is  difficult  to  know  what  truth  there  is  in  all 
these  tales,  but  one  fact  remains  and  seems  to  be 
beyond  contestation  :  and  that  is,  that  Queen  Sophie 
does  not  get  on  very  well  with  her  pretty,  fascinating 
sister-in-law,  and  that  the  latter  prefers  not  to  live 
surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  of  hostility.  Being  abso- 
lutely independent  of  the  bounty  of  King  Constantine, 
she  prefers  to  live  where  she  can  do  what  she  likes, 
and  lead  the  existence  of  a  private  person,  able  to 
claim,  whenever  she  wishes  to  do  so,  all  the  privileges 
of  a  daughter-in-law  of  a  sovereign.  Her  marriage 
certainly  belongs  to  the  number  of  those  which  one 
can  call  happy,  but  still  it  offers  one  curious  peculiarity 
— that  though  it  has  not  caused  her  husband  to  come 
down  to  her  level,  it  has  not  quite  raised  her  to  his ; 
and  that  though  it  has  allied  French  and  Greek  blood, 
it  has  not  amalgamated  them. 


i3« 


CHAPTER  VIII 
SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL 

THERE  are  few  sovereigns  whose  marriage  was  the 
cause  of  so  much  heart-burning  as  that  of  the 
King  of  Spain.  Ever  since  his  birth  speculations  had 
been  rife  as  to  whom  Alphonso  XIII.  was  to  marry. 
All  the  Habsburg  and  the  Bourbon  princesses  had  been 
named  in  conjunction  with  his  future,  the  balance  of 
opinion  being  that  the  Queen  Mother,  Marie  Cliristine, 
would  like  to  see  him  wedded  to  an  archduchess,  as 
her  strong  Austrian  sympathies  were  very  well  known. 
Her  own  marriage  was  essentially  one  in  which  politics 
had  played  the  principal  part.  It  had  been  arranged 
by  the  dispossessed  Queen  Isabella,  who  had  all  along 
been  dreading  that  her  son  would  ally  himself  to  the 
Montpensier  family,  which  she  hated  ever  since  her 
sister,  the  Infanta  Louise  Fernanda,  backed  by  all 
the  influence  of  the  Orleans,  had  set  herself  up  as  a 
rival,  and  raised  her  ambitious  eyes  to  the  throne  of 
Spain.  The  passionate  affection  which  King  Alphonso 
XII.  had  conceived  for  his  cousin.  Donna  Maria  de  las 
Mercedes,  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of 
Montpensier,  had  been  the  cause  of  much  sorrow  to 
his  mother,  who,  though  she  had  consented  to  grace 
the  wedding  ceremony  with  her  presence,   had  never 

139 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

forgiven  the  young  King  for  having  dared  to  take  for 
his  Queen  the  daughter  of  parents  who  had  continually 
intrigued  in  order  to  deprive  him  of  his  Crown.  And 
when,  three  months  after  her  marriage,  a  sudden  and 
insidious  disease  had  carried  away  the  girl  whom  she 
disliked  so  intensely.  Donna  Isabella  felt  that  Heaven 
itself  had  interfered  on  her  behalf.  Thereafter  she 
directed  all  her  efforts  to  persuade  the  widowed  and 
inconsolable  Alphonso  to  seek  another  bride,  who 
might  bring  him  the  advantages  of  high  connections 
and  of  an  unblemished  character. 

The  Austrian  Court,  too,  ever  since  he  had  been 
called  to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  had  kept  an  eye 
on  the  youthful  sovereign  who  ruled  over  Spain.  The 
Ball  Platz,  ever  eager  to  have  a  finger  in  every 
matrimonial  pie,  had  always  an  archduchess  ready 
to  wed  any  eligible  bridegroom  she  was  told  to  accept. 
Don  Alphonso  was  well  known  in  Vienna,  where  he 
had  studied  at  the  Theresianum  school,  and  whilst 
in  Austria  he  had  been  very  cordially  treated  by  the 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  as  well  as  by  the  whole  Imperial 
family.  The  widow  of  the  Archduke  Charles  Ferdinand, 
the  Archduchess  Elizabeth,  was  especially  cordial.  Her 
only  daughter,  Marie  Christine,  had  just  been  elected 
abbess  of  the  Convent  of  Noble  Ladies  of  the  Hradschin 
in  Prague,  a  dignity  that  was  always  conferred  on  a 
member  of  the  Imperial  family.  The  office  did  not 
prohibit  marriage  on  the  part  of  its  holder.  Marie 
Christine  was  a  person  of  uncommon  intelligence  and 
considerable  strength  of  character,  with  immense 
dignity,    grand    eighteenth-century    manners,    and    a 

140 


AN  INDIFFERENT  SUITOR 

warm  heart,  as  well  as  a  sweet  disposition.  She  had 
not  been  very  much  out  in  society,  as  etiquette  for- 
bade the  young  archduchesses  to  mix  too  much  in  the 
pleasures  of  the  world,  and  they  lived  in  the  state  of 
semi-seclusion  which  was  considered  befitting  to  their 
high  rank.  It  is,  therefore,  not  to  be  wondered  at  if 
she  fell  in  love  with  the  Spanish  prince,  with  whom 
her  clever  mother  tried  to  bring  her  together  as  often 
as  she  could.  Unfortunately,  Don  Alphonso's  heart 
was  already  in  the  possession  of  his  cousin  ;  he  paid 
no  attention  to  Marie  Christine,  and  noticed  neither 
the  wonderful  charm  which  she  possessed  nor  the 
noble  qualities  which  made  her  such  an  exceptional 
creature.  He  left  Vienna  entirely  heart-whole;  but 
this  was  far  from  being  the  case  with  the  young  girl, 
who  wept  bitter  tears  when  she  thought  that  she  had 
to  give  up  the  hopes  in  which  she  had  been  imprudently 
encouraged  by  all  her  family. 

Time  went  on  ;  Donna  Maria  de  las  Mercedes  was 
carried  away  to  the  gloomy  vaults  of  the  Escurial, 
and  Alphonso  XII.  was  free  once  more.  His  best 
dreams  had  been  rudely  destroyed,  and  it  became  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  him  who  should  take  the 
place  ;of  the  wife  he  had  worshipped  with  all  a  boy's 
enthusiasm  and  a  man's  passion.  Queen  Isabella 
thought  that  it  might  be  possible  now  to  speak  to 
him  once  more  of  the  Archduchess  Marie  Christine,  and 
he  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  that  he  could  not 
find  a  better  consort.  His  ministers,  too,  with  Canovas 
del  Castillo  at  their  head,  were  in  favour  of  an  Austrian 
alliance,  and  so  one  day  the  young  King  proposed  to 

141 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

the  girl,  who  had  been  secretly  in  love  with  him  for  a 
number  of  years,  during  a  meeting  which  had  been 
arranged  between  them  at  Arcachon,  in  France,  and 
the  following  November  saw  them  married  with  a 
great  display  of  pomp  at  the  Atocha  Church  in 
Madrid. 

Marie  Christine  could  hardly  believe  in  her  own 
happiness,  and  during  the  first  months  which  followed 
upon  her  marriage  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  joy,  from 
which,  however,  she  was  very  soon  to  be  rudely 
awakened.  The  King  was  of  essentially  a  flirting,  fickle 
nature,  for  whom  every  woman's  smile  had  attraction, 
and  who  could  no  more  have  remained  faithful  to  his 
wife  than  have  flown  in  the  air  at  a  time  when  balloons 
had  not  been  invented.  Had  his  first  consort  lived 
it  is  probable  that  he  would  not  have  been  much 
different  in  the  end;  and,  having  married  his  present 
Queen  entirely  for  political  and  dynastic  reasons,  it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  neglected  her  and 
soon  forgot  the  elementary  courtesies  of  life  in  his 
conduct  towards  her.  Marie  Christine  suffered  deeply 
and  bitterly,  but  made  no  sign,  and  led  a  most  retired 
kind  of  life  in  the  solitude  of  the  vast  Royal  palace 
of  Madrid,  spending  her  whole  time  with  her  children 
and  carefully  abstaining  from  meddling  with  politics 
or  with  the  government  of  the  country. 

Most  of  those  who  met  her  pronounced  her  a  non- 
entity, and  wondered  why  her  arrival  in  Spain  had 
been  preceded  by  such  a  reputation  for  cleverness, 
of  which  she  seemed  in  reality  to  have  very  little, 
if  any  at  all.     Very  quickly,  then,  Marie  Christine  came 

142 


THE  QUEEN'S  TRIUMPH 

to  be  considered  as  a  person  of  no  importance,  whose 
existence  at  the  side  of  the  King  was  a  State  affair 
but  nothing  else.  When  her  first  two  children  turned 
out  to  be  girls  it  was  generally  felt  that  her  marriage 
had  been  a  failure,  and  that  it  was  a  pity  Queen 
Isabella,  and  the  responsible  ministers  of  the  King, 
had  hurried  him  so  quickly  into  an  alliance  that 
had  brought  with  it  none  of  the  advantages  which 
it  had  been  supposed  to  possess  at  the  time  it  was 
concluded. 

Subsequent  events,  however,  proved  that  the  Queen 
Mother,  as  well  as  the  statesmen  who  at  that  time 
were  in  charge  of  the  interests  of  Spain,  had  seen 
more  clearly  than  the  general  public  in  respect  to  the 
qualities  of  Marie  Christine.  When  her  husband  died, 
and  she  was  left  suddenly  in  charge  of  a  monarchy 
that  had  neither  heir  nor  even  tenant  for  the  time, 
she  displayed  not  only  rare  courage,  but  also  con- 
siderable governmental  aptitude,  and  astonished  all 
those  who  had  to  deal  with  her  by  the  clear  way  in 
which  she  grasped  the  intricate  problems  attending 
the  political  and  commercial  welfare  of  the  country 
to  which  she  had  been  a  stranger  but  a  few  years 
earlier.  She  set  herself  to  her  difficult  task  with  a 
quiet  energy  and  determination  that  won  her  the 
respect  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  monarchy, 
and  of  even  the  staunchest  opponents  of  the  Bourbon 
dynasty.  She  was  no  more  than  twenty-seven  years 
of  age  when  she  became  a  widow,  and  her  son  was 
born  six  months  after  his  father's  death.  During 
that  time  she  had  to  rule  in  the  name  of  an  unknown 

143 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

quantity,  and  without  being  able  to  guess  who  was 
going  to  succeed  Alphonso  XII.  on  the  tottering  throne 
of  Spain. 

Very  few  women  would  have  found  themselves 
capable  of  fighting  against  such  terrible  odds,  and  very 
few  also  could  have  done  it  with  the  success  that 
attended  her  all  through  the  sixteen  years  which  her 
Regency  lasted — years  that  were  eventful  not  only  for 
herself  and  for  the  little  King,  but  also  for  Spain  in 
general,  especially  at  the  period  of  the  American  War. 
Marie  Christine  compelled  the  world  to  admire  and 
to  esteem  her ;  and  she  sacrificed  herself,  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  that  word,  to  her  arduous  duties. 
She  lived  the  existence  of  a  recluse,  imposing  on 
herself  the  restriction  never  to  admit  anyone  into 
her  intimacy,  to  have  no  friends,  to  allow  no  in- 
trigues to  approach  her,  and  to  give  up  those  enjoy- 
ments and  pleasures  which  a  woman  of  her  age 
generally  cares  for.  From  time  to  time  she  used 
to  hold  a  solemn  reception  at  the  Royal  palace, 
where  the  grandees  of  Spain  were  admitted  to  the 
honour  of  kissing  her  hand  ;  and  from  time  to  time, 
also,  she  was  seen  at  the  opera,  where  she  was  always 
met  with  great  enthusiasm ;  but  apart  from  these 
rare  occasions  she  never  showed  herself  in  public, 
and  the  bull-fights  which  took  place  regularly  during 
the  winter  season  at  Madrid  were  never  frequented  by 
her — a  fact,  by  the  way,  which  disposed  the  population 
of  the  Spanish  capital  to  consider  her  prudish,  they 
being,  of  course,  enthusiastic  about  that  wild  form  of 
sport,   and   considering   it   part   of  the   duties   of  the 

144 


ENGLAND  ADMIRED 

Sovereign  to  attend.  She  educated  her  children  with 
thoroughness,  and  gave  especial  care  to  the  training 
of  the  young  King,  on  whose  frail  shoulders  reposed 
all  the  future  of  the  haughty  Spanish  monarchy.  For 
long  she  had  serious  grounds  to  fear  that  she  would 
not  succeed  in  bringing  him  up,  the  child  being  ex- 
tremely delicate  ;  more  than  once,  indeed,  he  was  at 
death's  door  during  his  infancy.  As  soon  as  he 
grew  up  she  thought  about  his  marriage,  and  began 
looking  round  for  a  suitable  wife  who  would  give  to 
the  Crown  the  heir  whose  birth  was  indispensable  to 
the  consolidation  of  the  monarchy. 

Strangely  enough,  Marie  Christine,  though  an 
Austrian  and  a  Habsburg,  was  not  in  favour  of  her 
son  wedding  an  archduchess.  She  had  become  sus- 
picious of  the  polities  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  and  did 
not  want  Spain  to  be  drawn  into  the  net  of  German 
intrigue.  On  the  other  hand,  she  also  felt  that  her 
country  was  not  strong  enough  to  be  able  to  go  on 
without  some  kind  of  foreign  alliance.  France  did 
not  appeal  to  her,  because  her  Catholic  feelings  w^ere 
revolted  at  the  anti-clerical  policy  which  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Republic  had  inaugurated.  Russia  was 
too  distant.  There  only  remained,  therefore,  England, 
for  which  the  Queen  Regent  had  always  felt  the  greatest 
admiration,  added  to  her  personal  feelings  of  affection 
and  of  respect  for  Queen  Victoria.  The  two  Royal 
ladies  had  met  one  spring  time,  when  the  English 
Sovereign  had  been  staying  at  Biarritz,  and  Marie 
Christine  had  driven  over  from  St.  Sebastian  to  wel- 
come her  warmly  and  affectionately.     Ever  since  that 

K  145 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

time  the  widowed  mother  of  Don  Alphonso  had 
developed  in  her  son  a  taste  for  everything  EngUsh, 
and  had  taught  him  to  care  for  Enghsh  hterature, 
Enghsh  art,  English  comforts,  and  English  sports,  the 
last  of  which  appealed  most  strongly  to  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  young  King. 

It  was  after  this  memorable  interview  that  Marie 
Christine  began  to  think  of  an  English  bride  for  her 
beloved  boy.  The  young  lady  whom  she  had  in  view 
was  the  youngest  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Connaught, 
the  Princess  Patricia,  who,  it  was  reported  to  her, 
was  pretty  and  accomplished  in  every  way  and  re- 
presented perfectly  the  type  of  girl  whom  any  man 
might  have  felt  proud  to  win. 

The  Queen  Regent  was  far  too  clever  to  allow  her 
son  to  guess  what  she  had  in  her  mind,  and  merely 
explained  to  him  that  it  was  a  necessity  after  he  had 
attained  his  majority  that  he  should  start  on  a  round 
of  visits  to  foreign  Courts  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
into  personal  touch  with  the  other  monarchs  in  Europe, 
to  whom  he  was  still  unknown,  and  also  of  making  a 
call  of  courtesy  upon  his  uncle  the  Ai'chduke  Frederick, 
and  upon  his  relatives  on  his  mother's  side  at  Vienna. 
At  the  same  time  she  tried  to  sound  the  English  Court 
as  to  the  possibility  of  an  alliance  between  it  and 
the  young  ruler  of  Spain.  Queen  Victoria  was  already 
dead  at  that  time.  King  Edward  had  always  dreamed 
about  the  day  when  England's  splendid  isolation  should 
come  to  an  end,  and  she  would  have  come  to  an  under- 
standing with  other  Powers  against  an  enemy  of  whose 
importance  he  had  no  false  ideas,  but  whose  worth  he 

146 


THE  QUEEN  REGENT'S  HOPES 

appreciated  at  its  full  value.  He  was  but  too  glad 
to  listen  to  the  overtures  which  were  made  to  him  from 
Madrid,  of  which  the  first  intimation  was  conveyed 
to  him  in  rather  a  strange  manner.  The  King  had 
a  friend  in  whom  he  reposed  a  considerable  degree  of 
confidence ;  this  was  a  man  who,  having  begun  his 
career  as  a  journalist,  had  ended  by  being  admitted 
into  the  inner  circle  of  several  European  Courts.  He 
was  perhaps  the  best- informed  man  in  Europe  upon 
foreign  politics.  An  Englishman  by  birth,  he  had 
spent  a  certain  number  of  years  abroad,  travelling  for 
his  pleasure  or  on  secret  missions  of  unusual  import- 
ance. This  man — whose  name  I  forbear  from  mention- 
ing for  various  reasons  into  which  it  is  needless  to 
enter — had  been  sent  to  Madrid  on  an  errand  which 
required  more  than  usual  diplomatic  knowledge  to 
carry  to  a  successful  issue  ;  and  whilst  there  he  had 
been  presented  to  the  Queen  Regent.  He  soon  in- 
stalled himself  in  her  confidence,  and  discussed  with 
her  some  of  the  most  important  questions  of  the  day. 
To  him  Marie  Christine  broached  for  the  first  time 
the  subject  of  her  secret  desire  in  the  matter  of  her 
son's  marriage  ;  she  hinted  to  him  that  should  an 
English  princess  decide  to  come  to  Madrid,  she  would 
receive  a  warm  welcome,  and  she  begged  him  to 
ascertain  the  probable  attitude  of  King  Edward  VII. 
towards  this,  for  the  present,  personal  dream. 

The  personage  to  whom  I  am  referring  entered  into 
her  plan,  and  when  he  returned  to  England  he  took 
advantage  of  an  invitation  which  he  received  to  spend 
a  week-end  at  Sandi'ingham  House  to  speak  with  King 

147 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Edward  about  his  recent  journey  to  Madrid,  and 
about  the  wish  of  Queen  Marie  Christine  to  secure 
for  her  daughter-in-law  one  of  the  nieces  of  the 
Enghsh  Sovereign. 

King  Edward,  who  was  far  too  clever  not  to  appre- 
ciate this  confidence  for  what  it  was  worth,  entered 
at  once  into  the  spirit  of  the  secret  communication 
which  was  made  to  him  in  such  an  unexpected  manner. 
He  liked  to  dwell  upon  the  thought  that  almost  all 
the  thrones  of  Europe  were  occupied  by  relatives  of 
his,  and  that  nearly  all  his  nieces  were  destined  to 
wear  a  crown.  He  declared  at  once  that  he  would 
send  a  warm  invitation  to  Alphonso  XIII.  to  visit 
him  at  Windsor  or  in  London,  and  that  whilst  there 
he  would  give  him  every  possible  opportunity  to  meet 
the  Princess  Patricia. 

Before  this  invitation  had  been  accepted,  rumours 
began  to  circulate  concerning  so-called  English  intrigues 
in  Spain,  with  the  object  of  getting  that  country  to 
join  the  entente  cordiale  that  subsisted  between  France 
and  Great  Britain,  and  of  putting  it  imder  the  imme- 
diate influence  of  Great  Britain.  The  German  Press 
especially  became  quite  rabid,  and  long  articles  were 
written  as  to  the  infamous  designs  that  were  nourished 
in  England  and  in  France  in  regard  to  the  future  of 
Spain.  The  Queen  Marie  Christine  saw  them  and 
shrugged  her  shoulders,  and  very  few  people  either 
in  London  or  in  Paris  took  the  trouble  to  read  them 
seriously. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Alphonso  XIII.  started  on  his 
travels.     He   visited   Vienna   and   stayed   a   few   days 

148 


ALPHONSO  XIII.  TRAVELS 

with  his  uncle,  the  Archduke  Frederick,  at  the  latter's 
lovely  estate  of  Teschcn,  where  he  was  offered  excellent 
sport.  Then  Paris  saw  him  for  the  first  time,  and  at 
last  he  arrived  in  London,  where  he  found  summer 
in  all  its  glory,  and  the  rhododendrons  in  the  parks 
still  in  full  bloom. 

In  London,  the  youthful  Spanish  Sovereign  was 
received  with  great  cordiality,  and  won  golden  opinions 
everywhere  he  showed  himself.  He  was  an  exceedingly 
bright  and  cheerful  boy,  full  of  life  and  fun,  enthusiastic 
over  all  the  new  things  which  he  noticed,  and  the 
wonderful  sights  which  England  offered  to  his  in- 
experienced eyes.  He  dined  at  Windsor  and  danced 
at  Buckingham  Palace  ;  and  in  due  course  he  was 
introduced  to  the  Princess  Patricia,  who,  however, 
declared  that  though  she  found  him  very  nice,  she 
would  on  no  account  marry  him,  and  did  not  feel  the 
slightest  ambition  to  wear  the  crown  of  a  Queen  of 
Spain. 

It  was  just  as  well,  perhaps,  that  the  prospect  did 
not  appeal  to  her,  because  the  impetuous  King,  instead 
of  devoting  his  attention  to  her,  as  his  mother  would 
have  liked  him  to  do,  immediately  singled  out,  from 
the  intimate  circle  at  the  Court,  a  fair  and  lovely  girl, 
whose  golden  hair  and  blue  eyes  fascinated  him  from 
the  first  moment  that  he  had  seen  them  ;  she  was  the 
Princess  Ena  of  Battenberg,  another  of  the  numerous 
granddaughters  of  Queen  Victoria. 

Princess  Ena  was  a  fine  type  of  a  healthy  English 
girl.  She  had  been  admirably  brought  up  by  her 
most   distinguished  and   clever   mother,   and  she   had 

149 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

had  the  advantage  of  spending  her  childish  years  under 
the  roof  of  the  late  Queen,  and  consequently  had  seen 
from  quite  near  the  etiquette  which  governed  the 
Court  of  a  great  monarch.  She  was  amiable,  pleasant, 
merry  ;  always  in  good  temper,  and  fond  of  fun  and 
of  sport,  the  two  chief  characteristics  of  Alphonso  XIII. 
The  latter  fell  passionately  in  love  with  her,  but  did 
not  dare  to  speak  about  it,  nor  even  to  write  about 
the  state  of  his  feelings  to  Queen  Marie  Christine, 
who,  in  her  dreary  palace  at  Madrid,  was  waiting 
with  anxiety  for  any  news  that  might  come  to  her 
as  to  the  sayings  and  doings  of  her  beloved  son  in 
London. 

Now  arrives  an  episode  which  will  do  away  with 
a  good  many  legends  concerning  the  marriage  of  the 
present  King  and  Queen  of  Spain.  It  is  currently 
believed  that  the  idea  of  it  was  first  conceived  by  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  who  had  long  wished  to  see  her 
god-daughter,  the  Princess  Ena,  of  whom  she  was 
excessively  fond,  become  the  wife  of  Don  Alphonso 
de  Boiu-bon.  In  reality,  the  aged  Empress  had  never 
thought  about  it ;  and  it  was  the  personage  to  whom 
I  have  already  referred  who,  after  his  journey  to 
Madrid,  had  first  spoken  to  Eugenie  about  it.  He  knew 
that  she  had  a  certain  amount  of  influence  over 
Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg,  the  mother  of  Princess 
Ena,  and  that  more  easily  than  anyone  else  she  could 
broach  the  subject  of  this  brilliant  alliance  and,  at 
the  same  time,  handle,  with  the  tact  for  which  she 
had  always  been  justly  famed,  the  delicate  matter  of 
Princess    Ena's    conversion    to    the    Catholic    faith — a 

150 


BETROTHED 

matter  which  was  indispensable  if  the  marriage  were 
to  take  place. 

The  exiled  Empress  was  quite  delighted,  and  entered 
with  zest  into  the  plot — if  it  can  be  called  so — and  by 
inviting  the  young  people  to  come  and  see  her  simulta- 
neously she  encom'aged  them  in  the  mutual  love  which 
was  fast  growing  up  between  them.  She  also  spoke 
at  length  with  Princess  Beatrice  and  King  Edward 
about  the  possibility  of  arranging  this  unexpected 
alliance.  King  Edward  advised  his  sister  to  assent 
to  it,  and  finally  it  was  settled  that  Don  Alphonso 
should  return  to  Spain,  consult  his  own  mother  and 
his  ministers  as  to  the  advisability  of  the  marriage 
which  he  contemplated.  Thereafter  another  meeting  was 
to  take  place  between  him  and  the  lady  of  his  heart 
at  Biarritz  during  the  coming  autumn,  where  the 
Princess  Frederica  of  Hanover,  remembering  the  kind- 
ness which  Queen  Victoria  had  shown  to  her  at  the 
time  of  her  own  wedding,  and  informed  by  the  Princess 
Beatrice  of  the  negotiations  which  were  going  on, 
offered  her  villa  as  a  neutral  meeting  place,  where  the 
Spanish  monarch  could  see  the  Princess  Ena  with  a 
facility  he  would  not  have  been  able  to  obtain  any- 
where else. 

It  was  there  that  the  betrothal  took  place  at  last 
in  the  month  of  the  September  following,  and  thence 
also  Queen  Marie  Christine  journeyed  in  haste  to  see 
for  the  first  time  her  futm'e  daughter-in-law.  She  was 
charmed  at  first  glance  by  Princess  Ena's  unaffected 
simplicity,  and  was,  moreover,  delighted  to  renew  her 
friendship  with  the  Princess  Beatrice,  whom  she  had 

151 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

not  met  since  that  other  journey  of  hers  to  Biarritz, 
when  she  had  come  to  the  famous  watering-place  to 
pay  her  respects  to  Queen  Victoria.  The  two  ladies 
were  delighted  to  find  themselves  together  again,  and 
after  some  amount  of  discussion  it  was  finally  settled 
that  the  marriage  of  King  Alphonso  with  the  Princess 
Ena  was  to  take  place  in  the  following  May  at  Madrid. 

Thus  culminated  a  romance  in  which  the  whole  of 
Europe  had  been  deeply  interested,  and  which,  like 
a  fairy  tale,  finished  in  joy  and  in  prosperity.  The 
new  Queen  of  Spain  excited  the  deepest  admiration 
among  her  subjects  from  the  first  moment  that  they 
set  their  eyes  on  her  blonde  beauty  ;  and  she  also 
contrived  to  make  herself  popular  amidst  her  own 
family,  who  appreciated  the  charms  of  the  young 
English  girl  who  had  brought  such  an  atmosphere  of 
joy  and  of  merriment  into  their  austere  home.  The 
grave  mouth  of  Queen  Marie  Christine  learned  to  smile 
once  more  when  she  gazed  at  her  bright  daughter-in- 
law,  and  listened  to  her  soft  laugh  and  buoyant  spirits, 
which  life  might  in  time  subdue  but  would  never 
sadden  entirely.  And  when  one  little  child  after  another 
came  to  add  new  joys  to  the  Royal  home,  which  for 
such  a  long  time  had  stood  empty  and  forlorn,  the 
Dowager  Queen  felt  that  she  had  nothing  left  to  wish 
for  in  a  life  which  had  never  known  so  much  joy,  as 
from  the  day  when  her  impetuous  boy  had  brought 
to  gladden  it  the  beautiful,  lovely  and  loving  EngHsh 
girl  he  had  wooed  and  won  on  the  shores  of  the  grey 
Atlantic  Ocean. 

It  was  but  natural  that  this  marriage  of  the  King 

152 


GERMAN   DISPLEASURE 

of  Spain  with  a  niece  of  King  Edward  should  have  dis- 
pleased the  Emperor  William  and  German  politicians, 
who  would  have  liked  Alphonso  to  wed  an  Austrian 
archduchess,  whose  advent  at  the  Court  of  Madrid 
would  have  meant  good  relations  with  Vienna  and 
wuth  Berlin.  They  felt  that  in  a  certain  sense  this 
union  was  an  insult  to  them,  and  that  it  meant  they 
would  never  be  able  to  dictate  to  Madrid  the  conduct 
which  they  required  the  Spanish  Government  to  follow. 
This  wedding  was  a  checkmate  to  them,  and  they  did 
not  like  it,  nor  did  they  relish  the  frequent  visits  which 
the  young  Spanish  sovereigns  used  to  make  to  London 
and  to  the  Isle  of  Wight.  Above  everything  else,  they 
dreaded  the  influence  that  King  Edward,  through 
Queen  Victoria  Eugenie,  might  acquire  over  the  decisions 
of  the  Spanish  Court.  They  were  clever  enough  to 
understand  that  in  regard  to  future  complications  in 
Europe  this  union  had  had  an  enormous  political 
importance,  perhaps  even  greater  than  had  the  mar- 
riage of  King  Carlos  of  Portugal  with  the  eldest  daughter 
of  the  Comte  de  Paris,  the  Princess  Amelie  of  Orleans. 
The  Portugal  match  was  also  one  where,  in  spite 
of  all  that  was  written  about  it,  personal  affection 
had  a.greater  part  than  politics,  though  the  well-known 
ambition  of  the  Orleans  dynasty  justified  this  judgTnent 
of  the  crowd.  But  in  spite  of  this  fact,  politics  came 
to  play  a  considerable  part  in  it  in  after  years,  when 
the  Sovereign  of  Portugal  found  himself  in  conflict 
with  his  people,  and  was  supposed  to  be  encouraged 
in  the  attitude  wiiich  he  assumed  by  the  influence 
of  the  Queen,   who,   after  having  been  loved  by  the 

153 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

population  of  Lisbon  like  few  women  have  ever  been, 
became  disliked  and  hated  with  an  intensity  which 
even  her  misfortunes  did  not  diminish,  and  which 
every  imprudent  step  made  by  her  son  Don  Manuel 
helped  to  increase.  The  life  of  Amelie  is  perhaps  one 
of  the  saddest  which  history  has  ever  had  to  register. 
A  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  she  was  at  first  worshipped 
by  its  inhabitants  and  then,  through  no  fault  of  hers, 
she  saw  her  husband  and  her  son  murdered  under  her 
own  eyes  ;  she  found  herself  driven  into  exile,  and 
reduced  to  lead  a  wandering,  hopeless,  and  cheerless 
existence.  She  has  not  even  the  consolation  of  seeing 
little  children  cluster  around  her  knee,  or  of  hearing  the 
patter  of  their  small  feet  running  in  the  corridors  of 
the  house  where  she  has  found  refuge,  and  where,  it 
is  to  be  feared,  she  will  have  to  end  her  days  in  solitary 
grandeur,  with  no  other  comfort  than  to  be  able  to 
think  that  she  always  did  her  duty,  no  matter  in  what 
position  she  was  placed. 

Queen  Amelie  of  Portugal  is  perhaps  the  most 
unfortunate  sovereign  of  modern  times.  She  has  been 
disappointed  in  everything  that  she  has  undertaken  : 
thwarted  in  her  affections  for  her  parents,  for  her  sisters 
and  brothers,  for  her  husband,  and  for  her  children. 
It  is  no  secret  that  the  conduct  of  King  Manuel  has 
been  the  source  of  much  sorrow  to  his  mother,  and 
that  it  is  only  lately  that  he  has  begun  to  look  upon 
things  with  more  serious  attention  than  was  the  case 
before  his  marriage. 

That  marriage  of  Don  Manuel  also  belongs  to  the 
category   of  those  events  which    have   given   rise   to 

154 


KING  MANUEL 

a  considerable  amount  of  gossip.  For  some  years 
after  his  flight  from  Portugal  he  travelled  about  and 
tried  to  spend  his  time  in  the  pleasantest  manner 
possible,  but  not  in  one  calculated  to  win  for  him  the 
respect  of  the  Portuguese  nation.  His  mother  used 
to  implore  him  to  get  married,  if  only  from  the  dynastic 
point  of  view,  which  required  him  to  have  an  heir 
to  his  pretensions  and  to  his  rights.  The  young  King 
did  not  take  kindly  to  the  idea,  which  he  resisted  as 
long  as  he  found  it  possible  to  do  so.  But  at  last 
the  leaders  of  the  Royalist  party  at  Lisbon  sent  one  of 
their  adherents  to  the  Dowager  Queen,  and  begged 
her  to  explain  to  her  son  that  they  made  it  a  con- 
dition to  any  movement  they  might  attempt  in  his 
favour  that  he  should  take  to  himself  a  wife,  as  the 
birth  of  an  heir  was  indispensable  to  the  consolidation 
of  the  pretensions  of  the  House  of  Braganza  to  the 
Crown  of  Portugal. 

Thus  forced  to  act,  Don  Manuel  started  on 
a  journey  to  Germany,  where  he  hoped  to  find  a 
suitable  consort,  willing  to  associate  herself  with  his 
precarious  chances  and  ambitions.  This  was  no  easy 
matter  to  accomplish,  as  his  racy  reputation  had  pre- 
ceded; him  everywhere.  Even  the  daughters  of  the 
Archduke  Frederick  of  Austria  refused  to  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  him,  and  yet  they  were  supposed  to 
be  extremely  desirous  of  snatching  the  first  chance  that 
offered  of  leaving  their  mother,  with  whom  their 
relations  were  not  of  the  very  best.  Manuel  met  with 
a  succession  of  rebuffs  wherever  he  showed  himself, 
and  at  last  returned  to  London,  where  he  explained 

155 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

to  Queen  Amelie  that  it  had  been  quite  impossible  for  him 
to  comply  with  her  wishes  and  those  of  his  partisans. 

Great  consternation  followed  upon  his  announce- 
ment, and  the  Queen  took  to  her  bed,  so  upset  did  she 
feel  at  this  bitter  disappointment  to  all  her  hopes.  It 
was  at  this  juncture  that  Cardinal  Netto,  the  former 
Patriarch  of  Lisbon,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  made  to 
Don  Manuel  and  to  his  mother  a  proposition  which 
pleased  them  both  exceedingly.  The  Braganzas  had 
relations  in  Germany,  the  sister  of  Don  Luis,  the 
grandfather  of  King  Manuel,  the  Infanta  Maria  Antonia, 
having  married  the  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern — 
the  head  of  this  illustrious  House,  or,  rather,  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  branch  of  it — who  resided  at  the  castle 
of  Sigmaringen.  She  had  had  several  children,  and 
her  eldest  son  had  wedded  the  daughter  of  the  Countess 
of  Trani,  the  sister  of  the  Empress  Elisabeth  of  Austria. 
She  had  died  from  consumption  a  few  years  after  her 
marriage,  leaving  two  sons  and  one  daughter — the 
Princess  Augusta  Victoria,  who  was  twenty-three 
years  old,  not  exactly  pretty,  but  attractive,  intelligent, 
admirably  well  brought  up,  and  whose  family  con- 
nections were  unimpeachable ;  who,  moreover,  was 
related  to  the  House  of  Braganza,  and  might  feel  more 
inclined  to  share  the  fortunes  of  its  young  chief  than 
a  woman  to  whom  he  was  a  perfect  stranger.  Don 
Manuel  sighed,  but  recognised  the  wisdom  of  the 
advice  which  was  being  proffered,  and  consented  at  last 
to  a  visit  to  his  cousin  the  Prince  of  Hohenzollern, 
during  which  he  would  have  an  opportunity  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  Princess  Augusta  Victoria. 

156 


A  SENSIBLE  AFFAIR 

The  visit  proved  a  success,  inasmuch  as  the  two 
young  people  grew  to  like  each  other  well  enough  to 
risk  the  adventure  of  a  marriage  which,  at  all  events, 
was  a  most  suitable  one  for  both  parties.  Don  Manuel's 
fiancee  was  a  most  reasonable  person,  who,  perhaps 
because  she  did  not  expect  much  either  from  life  or 
from  the  husband  whom  she  was  to  marry,  had  got 
more  chances  of  happiness  than  w^ould  have  been  the 
case  with  a  romantic  and  affectionate  girl  who  looked 
for  something  else  in  life  than  a  good  establishment. 
She  accepted  the  position  of  an  exiled  Queen,  and 
being  heiress  to  a  lot  of  money  of  her  own,  besides  the 
large  fortune  which  Don  Manuel  had  been  able  to  save 
from  the  disaster  in  which  his  crown  had  been  lost 
she  fully  meant  to  shape  a  most  agreeable  existence 
for  herself  in  the  English  home  whither  her  husband 
intended  to  take  her  after  their  marriage. 

I  am  using  purposely  the  word  "  intended,"  be- 
cause many  months  passed  before  the  new  Queen  could 
undertake  the  journey.  A  sudden  and  rather  mys- 
terious disease  struck  her  at  Munich  a  few  days  after 
her  marriage,  and  obliged  her  to  enter  a  private  nursing 
home,  where  she  spent  several  weeks,  after  which  she 
had  to*  convalesce  at  her  father's  home  at  Sigmaringen. 
The  occurrence  gave  rise  to  numerous  and  most 
ill-natured  comments  on  the  part  of  the  public — com- 
ments that  proved  most  untrue,  because  as  soon  as 
she  was  cured  the  young  wife  of  King  Manuel  started 
together  with  him  for  England,  where  they  settled  in 
a  lovely  old  house  called  Fulwell  Park,  at  Twickenham, 
in  the  suburbs  of  London,  which  they  had  rented  for 

157 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

a  number  of  years.  Ever  since  they  have  been  living 
there,  going  about  in  a  quiet  way  amongst  their 
numerous  friends,  Don  Manuel  seems  to  have  given 
up  the  nonsense  to  which  he  had  been  addicted  before 
his  marriage,  whilst  the  Queen  has  become  fond  of  the 
country  and  of  the  new  surroundings  amidst  which 
she  found  herself  called  upon  to  live.  Husband  and 
wife  get  on  very  well  together,  but  their  marriage  so 
far  has  remained  childless,  and  the  House  of  Braganza 
still  lacks  an  heir. 


5« 


CHAPTER  IX 
DENMARK  AND  ITS  ALLIANCES 

THE  Royal  House  of  Denmark  is  perhaps  the  one 
whose  marriages  have  had  the  greatest  influence 
on  the  course  of  European  pohtics,  thanks  to  the  great 
authority  which  both  the  late  King  Christian  IX. 
and  his  accomplished  and  clever  wife,  Queen  Louise, 
acquired  over  their  numerous  sons-in-law,  nephews, 
children,  and  grandchildren,  and  to  the  wise  advice 
which  they  gave  to  them,  and  which  the  recipients  of 
it  knew  how  to  appreciate  and  to  respect.  It  is 
quite  likely  that  if  the  King  had  been  living  at  the 
present  moment  the  terrible  war  which  is  desolating 
the  world  would  have  been  avoided.  The  old  mon- 
arch's voice  would  have  had  a  deciding  weight  in  the 
difficult  questions  which  so  unexpectedly  cropped  up 
during  1914.  It  is  even  probable  that  he  would 
have  found  a  way  to  smooth  them  down  without 
recurring  to  the  force  of  arms,  and  thus  have  spared 
to  humanity  the  wholesale  massacres  which  have 
desolated  so  many  homes  and  hearts. 

The  position  occupied  by  the  Royal  pair  who  sat 
for  over  forty  years  upon  the  throne  of  Denmark  had 
been  quite  an  exclusive  one,  and  this  is  the  more  to 
be  wondered  at,  as  no  one  had  believed  when  Prince 

159 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Cliristian  of  Schleswig  -  Holstein  -  Sonderburg  -  Glucks- 
bourg,  according  to  the  treaty  concluded  in  London 
on  May  8th,  1852,  had  been  recognised  as  heir  to  the 
Danish  Crown  that  he  would  prove  anything  but  a 
most  insignificant  sovereign.  It  is  most  likely  that 
this  consideration  had  had  a  deal  to  do  with  the 
unanimity  with  which  all  the  Great  Powers  agreed  in 
the  suggestion  that  he  would  be  the  right  and  proper 
person  to  put  in  this  position.  King  Christian,  how- 
ever, did  not  in  the  least  intend  to  remain  in  a  secondary 
place.  He,  and  perhaps  his  Queen  even  more,  were 
most  ambitious,  and,  understanding  very  well  that 
they  could  never — owing  to  the  position  of  Denmark 
in  general — aspire  to  rise  to  a  prominent  place 
among  European  monarchs,  determined  nevertheless 
to  control  the  politics  of  the  world  through  their 
children,  and  the  marriages  which  the  latter  would 
make,  or  the  dignities  they  might  attain. 

In  this  important  matter,  as  in  so  many  others, 
both  the  King  and  the  Queen  gave  ample  proofs  of 
the  diplomatic  talents  which  they  possessed  in  such 
a  remarkable  degree.  They  were  perfectly  aware  that 
their  daughters  had  better  chances  to  make  brilliant 
matches  if  it  were  thought  that  Denmark  would  never 
attempt  to  mix  itself  up  with  the  foreign  affairs  of  other 
countries  ;  and  also  that  their  dynasty  in  the  eyes  of 
all  the  shrewd  politicians  who  controlled  the  chancel- 
leries of  Paris,  London,  Petersburg,  and  Vienna  had  the 
advantage  of  appearing  perfectly  harmless,  at  least  so 
far  as  regarded  the  family  connections  which  it  had  at 
that  time.     They  made  up  their  minds  to  go  on  pre- 

i6o 


A  SPLENDID  CONSORT 

serving  a  modest  attitude  until  the  moment  when 
their  daughters  would  be  established  and  the  future 
of  their  sons  assured. 

The  first  member  of  their  family  to  leave  their 
home  for  one  of  her  own  was  the  Princess  Alexandra, 
whom  fate  took  to  London,  where  she  made  herself  so 
beloved  by  the  people  over  whom  she  was  one  day 
to  reign.  The  marriage  of  the  then  Prince  of  Wales 
with  the  daughter  of  Prince  Christian  of  Holstein,  as 
he  still  was  at  that  time,  was  immensely  popular  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  and  she  was  welcomed  when 
she  first  landed  on  British  shores  with  a  burst  of 
enthusiasm  such  as  England  had  not  witnessed  for 
a  long  time.  She  was  lovely,  sweet,  good,  amiable, 
and  as  tactful  as  her  parents.  She  understood  to 
perfection  how  to  be  gracious  to  all  with  whom  she 
came  into  contact,  and  she  made  herself  beloved  every- 
where she  showed  herself.  Princess  Alexandra  realised 
the  complicated  problem  of  keeping  the  affections  of 
the  nation  she  had  come  to  rule  at  the  same  level  all 
through  the  fifty  odd  years  she  has  lived  amongst 
it,  and  never  once  during  that  whole  time  has  a 
single  voice  been  heard  in  disparagement  of  her,  or 
the  slightest  criticism  raised  as  to  any  of  her  sayings 
or  her  doings. 

Whilst  the  negotiations  concerning  her  marriage 
were  still  going  on,  a  further  important  matter  concern- 
ing another  child  of  the  future  King  and  Queen  of 
Denmark  was  raised  by  European  diplomacy.  The 
revolution  that  had  taken  place  in  Greece  had  obliged 
the  sovereign  of  that  realm,  Otto  of  Bavaria,  to  return 

L  i6i 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

to  his  native  land.  Greece  found  herself  without  a 
king,  and  after  much  talk,  and  a  good  many  tergi- 
versations, the  Greek  National  Assembly,  after  having 
vainly  tried  to  obtain  as  its  Sovereign  the  second  son 
of  Queen  Victoria,  the  Duke  of  Edinbm'gh,  offered  its 
Crown  to  Prince  William  of  Denmark,  the  brother  of 
the  Princess  of  Wales.  The  Great  Powers  interested 
in  the  Greek  question  having  given  their  assent  to  this 
choice  in  London  on  June  5th,  1863,  the  young  prince 
was  recognised  as  King  of  the  Hellenes  under  the  name 
of  George  I.  He  started  for  his  new  country  in  October 
of  the  same  year,  bringing  as  a  present  to  his  people 
the  Ionian  Islands,  which  England  had  consented  to 
retrocede  to  Greece  by  one  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty 
which  had  been  concluded  at  the  time  this  important 
matter — the  influence  of  which  was  to  extend  itself 
to  the  whole  of  the  Near  East,  was  finally  settled 
to  the  general  satisfaction  of  all  the  interested  parties 
in  the  question,  Turkey  included. 

King  George  was  but  eighteen  years  old  when  he 
set  his  foot  upon  the  historic  shores  of  his  new  kingdom. 
Before  he  started  he  received  some  very  good  advice 
from  his  father,  and  was  promised  by  his  mother  that 
as  soon  as  his  position  had  become  more  or  less  settled 
she  would  occupy  herself  with  the  important  question 
of  his  marriage,  and  find  for  him  a  bride  whose  family 
connections  would  strengthen  his  situation  and  contri- 
bute to  his  popularity  among  his  people. 

When  the  wise  Queen  spoke  like  that  she  was 
already  dreaming  about  an  alliance  which  would  unite 
her  son  with  the  Romanoffs  even  more  closely  than 

162 


FATE  STEPS  IN 

her  House  was  already,  because,  in  the  meanwhile, 
the  Princess  Dagmar,  the  second  daughter  of  the 
Royal  pair,  had  become  engaged  to  the  Heir  to  the 
Crown  of  All  the  Russias.  Whilst  negotiations  were 
going  on  between  the  Greek  National  Assembly,  and  the 
Royal  House  of  Denmark,  several  events  had  occurred 
which  had  considerably  added  to  the  importance  of 
the  Danish  Royal  Family  in  Europe.  For  one  thing, 
the  old  King  of  Denmark  had  died,  and  the  father 
of  the  young  Princess  of  Wales  and  of  the  newly 
elected  Sovereign  of  the  Hellenes  had  replaced  him 
upon  the  throne  of  that  country.  The  engagement 
of  Princess  Dagmar  made  King  Christian  the  father- 
in-law  of  the  future  sovereigns  of  the  two  greatest 
Empires  in  the  world — at  that  time  no  one  thought 
about  the  grandeur  of  Germany — and  it  thus  gave  him 
an  entry  into  the  inner  circle  of  higher  politics  and  a 
certain  sense  of  influence  with  each  in  the  future — 
a  fact  which  he  keenly  appreciated.  When,  a  few 
months  later,  the  Grand  Duke  Cesarevitch  sickened 
and  died  at  Nice,  beyond  his  own  mother  and  the 
unfortunate  Princess  Dagmar  no  one  mourned  for 
him  more  sincerely  than  the  sovereigns  who  had  ex- 
pected ".to  become  his  parents-in-law,  and  who  saw 
thus  disappear  all  their  plans  for  the  future  as  well 
as  all  their  honest  ambitions,  which,  in  justice  to  them, 
must  be  confessed  were  all  directed  towards  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  and  of  harmony  in  Europe. 

It  is  not  to  be  remarked  upon,  therefore,  that  when 
friends  began  hinting  that  it  would  be  possible  to 
renew  the   links   which   had   been   so   rudely  snapped 

163 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

asunder,  and  that  the  possibility  of  a  Russian  establish- 
ment for  the  Princess  Dag  mar  had  not  altogether 
vanished,  both  the  King  and  the  Queen  of  Denmark 
caught  eagerly  at  the  idea,  and  declared  themselves 
quite  willing  to  see  it  mature.  Eighteen  months 
went  by  in  that  way,  and  at  last  their  hopes  were 
realised  and  their  daughter  was  wedded  to  the  future 
Tsar. 

The  marriage  turned  out  an  ideally  happy  one,  and 
proved  yet  again  the  wisdom  of  those  who  had  planned 
it.  It  contributed  largely  to  the  peace  of  the  world, 
and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  present  Anglo-French 
and  Russian  understanding,  which,  but  for  the  influence 
exercised  by  the  old  King  of  Denmark  over  his  sons- 
in-law  and  daughters,  might  not  have  been  concluded 
so  soon,  nor  under  such  favourable  conditions. 

When  Princess  Dagmar  settled  in  her  new  home,  her 
mother  bethought  herself  again  of  the  promise  which 
she  had  made  to  her  younger  son,  and  she  enlisted  his 
sister's  sympathies  in  the  cause  she  wanted  to  plead. 
The  Grand  Duke  Constantine  Nicolaievitch  had  a 
daughter,  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga,  who  was  reputed 
to  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  in  Europe.  She 
had  barely  reached  her  sixteenth  year,  but  had  already 
been  asked  in  marriage  by  more  than  one  German 
prince  eager  to  ally  himself  to  the  mighty  Tsar  of  All 
the  Russias.  It  was  towards  this  Princess  that  the 
thoughts  of  the  Queen  of  Denmark  had  turned,  feeling 
sure  that  a  union  between  the  King  of  Greece  and  a 
lady  who  professed  the  Greek  Orthodox  faith  would  be 
most   popular    among    the    Hellenes,    who,    moreover, 

164 


ADVANTAGEOUS  ALLIANCES 

would  hail  with  joy  the  advent  in  their  midst  of  a  niece 
of  the  Russian  Emperor.  Her  presence  at  Athens 
would  ensure  to  the  new  Greek  kingdom  the  powerful 
protection  of  Russia. 

The  Queen  of  Denmark  therefore  applied  all  her 
energies  to  bring  it  about,  and  begged  of  her  daughter 
also  to  do  all  that  she  could  to  induce  Alexander  II. 
to  look  with  favourable  eyes  upon  such?  an  alliance. 
The  Princess  Dagmar — or  rather  the  Grand  Duchess 
Marie  Feodorovna,  for  such  was  the  name  under  which 
she  was  henceforward  to  be  known — was  all  too  glad  to 
help  her  mother.  Since  her  arrival  in  Russia  she  had 
become  warmly  attached  to  the  lovely  and  accomplished 
Princess  whose  hand  was  sought  in  marriage  by  her 
brother.  She  therefore  pleaded  his  cause  before  the 
Emperor,  and  was  genuinely  delighted  when  he  gave 
his  assent  to  this  alliance.  Ever  since  the  happy  event 
took  place  she  has  remained  on  terms  of  the  most 
tender  intimacy  with  the  new  Queen  of  the  Hellenes, 
who  on  her  side  reciprocated  her  affection  with  all  her 
heart,  and  whose  warm  sympathy  and  tenderness  never 
failed  her  in  after  life,  and  stood  beside  her  during  its 
most  cruel  moments,  when  she  lost  the  husband  she 
loved  SD  dearly. 

Two  years  after  the  King  of  Greece  and  the  beautiful 
Olga  Constantinovna  had  married,  his  eldest  brother, 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Denmark,  also  took  to  himself  a 
wife.  It  was,  like  those  of  his  sisters  and  of  King  George, 
an  alliance  which  the  Queen  Louise  had  long  since  pre- 
pared, and  which  brought  considerable  advantages. 
His  bride  was  the  only  daughter  of  King  Charles  of 

165 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Sweden  and  Norway  and  of  a  Princess  of  Nassau,  who 
was  heiress  to  a  fortune  of  several  milhons,  and  con- 
sidered one  of  the  best  matches  in  Europe.  It  was 
an  alhance  which  was  popular  all  over  the  Scandina- 
vian peninsula,  and  which  brought  considerable  happi- 
ness to  the  two  young  people  who  contracted  it.  The 
new  Crown  Princess  made  herself  quickly  at  home  in 
Denmark  and  amidst  her  husband's  family,  and  she 
became  in  a  short  time  almost  as  dear  to  her  parents- 
in-law  as  their  own  daughters.  Children  also  arrived 
in  quick  succession  to  add  the  joy  of  their  presence  to 
their  house,  and  the  old  Queen  could  rejoice  with  all 
her  heart  as  she  listened  to  their  innocent  prattle,  and 
in  her  mind  made  more  than  one  plan  concerning  the 
future  of  these  small  mites. 

After  the  Princesses  Alexandra  and  Dagmar  and  the 
Crown  Prince  and  his  brother  had  married  there  were 
left  in  the  Royal  home  of  Denmark  the  Princess  Thyra 
and  Prince  Waldemar,  who  for  a  considerable  number 
of  years  remained  near  their  parents,  and  about  whose 
future  the  match-making  Queen  did  not  like  to  trouble 
too  much,  because  she  did  not  care  for  the  thought 
of  losing  them  and  seeing  them  established  far  away 
from  her.  There  happened  a  time,  however,  when 
people  began  to  wonder  why  the  Princess  Thyra  had 
already  reached  her  twenty-fifth  year  and  had  not  yet 
been  provided  with  a  husband.  She  had  had  more 
than  one  suitor,  but  had  always  rejected  their  offers  ; 
and  though  rumour  had  associated  her  name  with 
almost  every  marriageable  prince  in  Europe,  she  did 
not  seem  to  show  the  slightest  inclination  for  matri- 

i66 


A  SURPRISE  ENGAGEMENT 

mony.  At  one  time  her  name  was  freely  coupled  with 
that  of  the  Prince  Imperial  of  France,  who  during  a 
visit  which  he  had  paid  to  Copenhagen  had  been  the 
recipient  of  much  courtesy  and  great  cordiality  on  the 
part  of  the  Royal  family.  At  last  the  Oilicial  Gazette 
of  Copenhagen  announced  that  an  engagement  had 
taken  place  between  the  Princess  Thyra  and  the 
Pretender  to  the  Hanoverian  throne,  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland. 

At  first  the  news  did  not  please  the  Danish  people, 
and  provoked  also  considerable  surprise  amidst  diplo- 
matic circles  in  Europe.  Some  wonder  was  expressed 
how  it  became  possible  that  a  prudent  man  like  King 
Christian  IX.  should  have  consented  to  give  his  youngest 
daughter  to  a  prince  whose  position  was  anything  but 
assured,  and  who  was  virtually  an  exile  deprived  of 
home  and  of  fortune.  In  reality  the  marriage  was  far 
more  advantageous  than  the  world  imagined.  The 
Duke  of  Cumberland,  besides  being  a  very  nice  man, 
and  deeply  in  love  with  the  young  princess  he  had 
been  lucky  enough  to  win,  was  enormously  rich  in  spite 
of  the  confiscated  millions,  which,  by  the  way,  were 
ultimately  returned  to  him,  partly  through  the  good 
offices  of  the  King  of  Denmark.  He  lived  in  a  beautiful 
castle  near  Ischl,  owning  as  well  a  splendid  palace  at 
Vienna  and  the  most  magnificent  family  jewels  that 
any  Royal  House  could  boast.  The  old  and  wise  King 
remembered  also  that  his  own  sons-in-law  were  power- 
ful enough  to  help  the  latest  addition  to  their  ranks 
to  recover  his  forfeited  properties,  and  to  be  of 
use  to   him   in   the   matter  of  the   inheritance  of  the 

167 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Duchy  of  Brunswick,  to  which  he  stood  the  next  in 
succession. 

When  all  these  different  reasons  were  taken  into 
consideration  the  marriage  was  not  such  a  bad  one 
after  all,  even  for  the  sister-in-law  of  the  future  Tsar  of 
Russia  and  the  future  King  of  England.  The  wedding 
took  place  at  Copenhagen  in  December,  1878.  It 
established  an  exception  to  the  rule  which  had  pre- 
vailed until  then  in  the  Danish  Royal  House  ;  and  the 
new  Duchess  of  Cumberland,  instead  of  joining  the 
family  circle  which  gathered  together  every  summer 
at  the  castles  of  Fredensborg  or  of  Bernstorff,  made  but 
rare  appearances  there.  She  soon  discovered  that  her 
husband  was  loath  to  see  her  leave  her  Austrian  home 
more  often  than  was  absolutely  necessary,  and  there- 
fore seldom  made  excursions  abroad. 

Her  youngest  daughter  being  thus  settled  in  life 
and  all  her  children  well  established.  Queen  Louise 
found  that  she  could  rest  for  some  time  on  her  matri- 
monial laurels.  Her  last  boy,  it  is  true,  remained 
unmarried,  but  there  was  ample  time  to  look  for  a 
wife  for  him,  so  she  did  not  trouble  much  concerning 
him,  with  the  consequence  that  one  line  day  a  surprise 
for  which  she  was  but  little  prepared  was  sprung  upon 
her  as  he  came  to  confide  to  her  that  he  had  fallen  in 
love  with  the  daughter  of  the  Due  de  Chartres,  the 
Princess  Marie  of  Orleans. 

Neither  the  King  nor  the  Queen  had  ever  given  a 
thought  to  the  possibility  of  such  an  alliance,  and  for 
the  first  few  moments  they  were  literally  staggered  at 
the  idea  of  the  complications  which  might  arise.    Then 

i68 


MARIE  OF  ORLEANS 

their  sound  common  sense  came  to  their  rescue,  and 
they  reahsed  the  many  advantages  which  this  union 
might  bring  along  with  it.  Princess  Marie  possessed  a 
charming  character  and  also  a  considerable  fortune,  to 
which,  upon  her  marriage,  her  uncle,  the  Due  d'Aumale, 
added  a  large  sum,  so  overjoyed  did  he  feel  at  this 
entrance  of  his  niece  into  the  most  select  family  circle 
in  the  whole  of  Europe. 

At  the  last  moment  the  marriage  was  nearly  broken 
off  on  account  of  the  religious  question.  The  Princess 
belonged  to  the  Catholic  faith,  which  does  not  admit 
of  any  compromise  in  regard  to  the  bringing  up  of 
children  in  mixed  marriages,  and  insists  upon  their 
being  christened  according  to  its  own  rites.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  would  have  been  inadmissible  for  mem- 
bers of  the  Danish  Royal  Family  to  be  anything  else 
but  Protestants.  None  of  the  interested  parties  would 
give  way,  and  it  seemed  at  a  certain  moment  as  if 
the  whole  affair  would  crumble  to  pieces.  It  was  at 
this  juncture  that  Queen  Louise  interfered,  and  with 
her  usual  tact  found  a  solution  to  what  seemed  at 
first  insurmountable  difficulties.  She  suggested  a  com- 
promise, and  proposed  to  arrange  matters  so  that  if 
any  sons  were  born  of  the  marriage  they  should  be 
baptised  Protestants,  whilst  the  daughters  would  be 
allowed  to  follow  their  mother's  faith.  This  seemed  to 
satisfy  everybody  except  the  ultramontane  parties  in 
France,  about  whose  opinions  no  one  troubled  in  the 
very  least,  and  the  Princess  Marie  of  Orleans  was  at 
last  united  to  Prince  Waldemar  of  Denmark  in  the 
private  chapel  of  the  Castle  of  Eu  in  Normandy,  in 

169 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

presence  of  the  King  and  Queen  of  Denmark,  of  the 
Princess  of  Wales,  and  of  the  Empress  of  Russia,  who 
had  travelled  to  France  for  the  occasion. 

The  unexpected  happens  sometimes  in  Royal  life. 
This  marriage,  which  at  first  seemed  to  have  nothing  to 
do  with  politics,  was  destined  to  bring  about  the  most 
important  political  consequences  of  modern  times. 
The  Princess  Marie,  bright,  intelligent,  and  keenly, 
delicately  clever,  very  soon  made  for  herself  quite  an 
exclusive  position  in  Denmark.  She  fascinated  every- 
one who  met  her,  won  from  the  very  first  day  of  her 
arrival  in  Copenhagen  the  heart  of  her  mother-in-law, 
and  soon  made  herself  indispensable  to  all  her  family. 
She  became  the  personal  friend  of  the  Tsar,  Alexander 
III.,  who,  though  he  hated  to  talk  politics  in  general, 
and  to  discuss  them  with  women  in  particular,  liked  to 
do  so  during  his  conversations  with  his  sister-in-law. 
They  used  to  go  out  for  long  walks  together  during 
the  yearly  sojourns  which  the  Tsar  made  at  the  Court 
of  Copenhagen,  and  he  found  it  a  great  relaxation  amidst 
his  busy  life  to  be  able  to  speak  freely  about  all  the 
things  that  he  liked  or  disliked  with  the  bright  and 
merry  French  princess,  who,  in  her  turn,  entertained 
a  warm  feeling  of  affection  combined  with  the  deepest 
respect  for  the  mighty  Sovereign,  whose  whole  existence 
seemed  to  be  taken  up  by  his  desire  to  be  the  father 
to  his  people  he  had  said  he  would  strive  to  be  on  the 
day  he  ascended  the  throne. 

She  entertained  him  with  her  own  love  for  the  land 
of  her  birth,  and  used  her  best  endeavours  to  persuade 
him  to  think  with  favour  upon  the  possibility   of  a 

I/O 


THE  GATHERING  STORM 

Franco-Russian  alliance  which  might  eventually  prove 
a  checkmate  to  German  ambitions  and  German  appe- 
tites. Alexander  had  refused  to  entertain  the  idea 
when  it  was  at  first  suggested  to  him  by  the  great 
Russian  publicist  Michael  Katkoff,  but  the  knowledge 
of  this  did  not  deter  the  Princess  from  once  more 
enunciating  the  advantages  which  would  accrue  from 
such  an  understanding. 

These  annual  family  gatherings  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Danish  capital  were  productive  of  several 
important  events.  It  was  due  to  their  recurrence  that 
the  early  ambitions  and  dreams  of  King  Christian  IX. 
and  of  Queen  Louise  began  to  be  realised.  The  Danish 
King  and  Queen  were  both  held  in  high  esteem  by  the 
Tsar,  who,  feeling  certain  that  the  parents  of  his  wife 
would  never  advise  him  badly,  often  consulted  them 
in  various  matters,  and  especially  about  those  concern- 
ing the  growing  power  of  Germany,  which  already  at 
that  time  was  beginning  to  cast  the  shadow  of  menace 
over  Europe  by  reason  of  her  considerable  armaments. 
The  Emperor  Alexander,  who  understood  better  than 
any  other  man  in  his  vast  dominions  the  dangers  which 
lay  in  store  for  Russia  if  German  power  were  allowed 
to  expand  in  the  manner  that  it  had  done  during  recent 
years,  had  pondered  for  a  considerable  time  on  the 
possibility  of  ending  this  peril,  or  at  least  upon  mini- 
mising its  potentialities.  From  the  first  the  Triple 
Alliance  had  appeared  to  him  to  be  what  it  was  in 
reality — a  means  to  bring  the  rest  of  humanity  under 
the  heel  of  German  omnipotence.  On  the  other  hand, 
Alexander    III.    hated    everything    that    savoured    of 

171 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

revolution,  and  he  had  not  been  able  to  reconcile  him- 
self to  the  French  Republic,  the  very  name  of  which 
reminded  him  of  the  bloodiest  pages  of  the  great 
Revolution,  and  of  the  scaffold  of  Louis  XVI.  It 
became  the  task  of  the  Princess  Marie  to  explain  to  him 
that  the  Republic,  as  it  was  at  the  time  they  were 
speaking,  had  nothing  in  common  with  that  abomin- 
able coalition  of  lawless  ruffians  which  had  murdered 
in  cold  blood  so  many  innocent  people  and  displayed 
the  red  flag  as  its  ensign.  France,  which  had  hitherto 
been  a  sealed  book  to  Alexander  III.,  became  better 
understood  by  him  through  the  descriptions  which  his 
sister-in-law  gave  him  of  its  beauties,  and  the  ex- 
planations which  she  made  concerning  the  character 
of  its  population.  At  last  he  consented  to  think  about 
the  possibility  of  co-operating  with  France  in  some 
action  against  Prussian  militarism,  and  of  concluding 
an  alliance  or  at  least  of  coming  to  an  understanding 
the  weight  of  which  would  effectually  reduce  the  efforts 
of  the  Austro- German  entente. 

King  Christian  was  not  sorry  to  see  his  son-in-law 
become  suspicious  of  the  sincerity  of  the  feelings  of 
friendship  which  Germany  continually  assured  him 
that  she  entertained  towards  Russia.  Christian  IX. 
hated  Prussia  too,  and  disliked  even  more  Prussian  ways, 
Prussian  duplicity,  and  Prussian  methods  of  govern- 
ment ;  for  Prussian  hypocrisy  he  entertained  a  pro- 
found disgust.  He  therefore  applied  all  his  personal 
efforts  to  help  forward  those  which  the  Princess  Marie 
was  making  to  bring  about  an  understanding  between 
Russia,    France,    and    Great    Britain.     He    found    an 

172 


CHRISTIAN  OF  DENMARK 

unexpected  ally  in  this  task  in  the  person  of  King 
Edward  VII.,  who  ever  since  the  Franco-German  War 
had  been  distrustful  of  Prussia  and  of  the  policy  of 
Bismarck,  and  who  fully  intended  to  do  his  best  to 
arrange  an  alliance  between  Russia,  France,  and  Great 
Britain  as  soon  as  he  would  find  himself  in  a  position 
to  further  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  gainsay  that  during  the  lifetime  of 
King  Christian  of  Denmark,  and  especially  during  that 
of  Queen  Louise,  the  Danish  Government  exercised  a 
considerable  amount  of  power  in  Europe.  Whenever 
a  political  complication  arose,  diplomacy  turned  its 
glances  towards  Copenhagen,  whence  they  confidently 
looked  to  come  the  solution  of  all  difficulties  which 
tended  to  disturb  the  peace  of  Europe.  The  King 
was  perfectly  aware  of  the  importance  which  he  had 
acquired  in  chancelleries  such  as  Vienna,  Paris,  Berlin, 
and  London,  and  it  amused  him  exceedingly  to  be 
able  to  guide  the  destinies  of  so  many  nations  with- 
out their  peoples  suspecting  that  this  was  the  case. 

It  was  principally  for  this  reason  that  he  encour- 
aged all  his  family  to  spend  their  vacations  at  Copen- 
hagen, and  that  he  tried  to  make  the  holiday  exceed- 
ingly pleasant  to  them  in  every  possible  way.  By  and 
by,  especially  as  Alexander  III.  openly  expressed  the  feel- 
ings of  extreme  reverence  for  his  father-in-law,  Copen- 
hagen became  the  greatest  centre  of  European  politics, 
and  was  recognised  to  be  the  spot  where  its  in- 
most intricacies  were  known,  and  where  the  secret, 
or  not  secret,  treaties  between  the  different  Great 
Powers  of  the   Continent  were   carefully  weighed  and 

173 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

examined  long  before  their  contents  had  become 
public  property.  It  was  an  acknowledged  fact  that 
the  Tsar  consulted  the  King  of  Denmark  upon  all 
grave  resolutions  he  found  himself  called  upon  to 
make.  It  was  also  common  knowledge  that  of  all  the 
things  that  Prince  Bismarck  had  the  most  dreaded 
during  the  days  of  his  power  in  Prussia,  the  chief 
one  was  the  possible  enmity  of  Christian  IX.  in 
regard  to  his  schemes. 

When  Alexander  III.  died  so  prematurely,  the 
influence  of  the  Danish  Court  did  not  come  to  an  end. 
On  the  contrary,  it  assumed  a  greater  importance, 
because,  the  one  man  against  whom  he  had  never 
dared  to  make  a  stand  being  removed  from  the  scene 
of  the  politics  of  the  world,  the  German  Emperor, 
William  II.,  applied  himself  suddenly  to  win  the  good 
graces  of  Christian  IX.,  and  rendered  himself  so 
pleasant  during  the  short  stay  which  he  made  at  Copen- 
hagen that  the  old  King  consented  at  last  to  accept 
the  earnest  invitation  which  had  been  proffered  to 
him  so  many  times  in  succession  by  the  impetuous 
ruler  of  Germany,  and,  in  his  turn,  visited  Berlin  for 
a  few  hours.  It  ought,  however,  to  be  remarked  that 
when  this  happened  Queen  Louise  had  been  dead 
some  years,  as  it  is  to  be  questioned  whether  she  would 
have  consented  to  accompany  her  husband  had  she 
still  been  alive.  Apart  from  his  desire  to  stand  well 
with  some  of  his  brother  sovereigns  who  did  not  look 
upon  him  with  over-lenient  eyes,  William  11.  had  got 
another  aim  in  view  when  he  tried  to  ingratiate  him- 
self into  the  good  graces   of  the  Danish  Court.     He 

174 


DANISH  INFLUENCE 

was  already  thinking  about  the  possibiHty  of  a  Bruns- 
wick marriage  for  his  only  daughter,  and  in  view  of 
this  he  desired  to  cultivate  good  relations  with  the 
parents  and  all  the  relatives  of  the  Duchess  Thyra  of 
Cumberland.  Perhaps  also  he  wished  to  have  an 
opportunity  to  persuade  them  that  in  reality  he  did 
not  cherish  the  bad  intentions  against  the  peace  of 
the  world  with  which  he  was  already  credited. 

One  fact  remained  certain,  and  that  was  that  no 
one  in  Germany  understood  better  than  did  the 
Emperor  the  importance  of  remaining  on  good  terms 
with  Copenhagen.  When  Queen  Victoria  died,  William 
II.  became  even  more  anxious  than  he  had  ever  been 
before  to  stand  upon  excellent  terms  with  the  Danish 
Sovereigns,  whom  the  consort  of  the  new  British 
Sovereign  continued  to  visit  every  summer,  and  where 
she  had  the  opportunity  to  meet  her  sister,  the  Dowager 
Empress  of  Russia,  whose  influence  was  just  as  strong 
over  the  mind  of  her  son  as  it  had  been  over  her  hus- 
band's. Strangely  enough,  all  the  events  that  have 
led  to  the  present  war,  and  the  war  itself,  have  not  been 
able  to  change  the  attitude  of  the  German  Sovereign  in 
regard  to  Denmark,  and  well-informed  people  affirm 
that  the  present  King  is  so  well  aware  of  this  fact 
that  he  has  already  taken  advantage  of  it  to  make 
his  voice  heard  in  the  cause  of  peace.  Christian  X., 
together  with  his  consort  and  his  mother,  the  Dowager 
Queen  Louise,  are  believed  to  have  approached  Berlin 
with  a  view  also  of  trying  to  persuade  the  Emperor 
to  conduct  the  war  in  a  more  humane  manner.  It  is 
easy   for   them   to   try  to  do  so,  because  the  present 

175 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Queen  of  Denmark,  being  the  sister  of  the  German 
Crown  Princess,  is  in  a  position  to  tell  the  latter  some 
home  truths  which  she  would  refuse  to  listen  to  from 
anyone  else. 

Queen  Alexandrine  is  an  amiable  creature.  Her 
marriage  was  one  of  the  last  joys  granted  to  old  Queen 
Louise  of  Denmark.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Frederick  Francis  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin 
and  of  that  magnificent  Grand  Duchess  Anastasia 
Michailovna  of  Russia,  with  whose  sayings  and  doings 
the  gay  world,  that  gathers  during  winter  on  the  sunny 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  had  occupied  itself  so 
much  and  so  often  in  years  gone  by.  Princess  Alexan- 
drine was  married  at  Cannes  one  beautiful  spring 
morning,  quite  simply  and  without  fuss,  amidst  an 
intimate  circle  of  relatives  and  friends  who  gathered 
around  her  to  wish  her  joy.  The  union  was  entirely 
a  love  affair  ;  politics  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  though, 
owing  to  the  rare  luck  which  generally  attended  all  the 
alliances  of  the  Royal  House  of  Denmark,  it  was  also  one 
which  conferred  all  the  advantages  that  the  ambitious 
heart  of  the  old  Queen,  the  grandmother  of  the  happy 
bridegroom,  could  have  wished  for  him.  The  Princess 
Alexandrine  of  Mecklenburg  arrived  in  Denmark  a  few 
weeks  after  her  wedding  with  Prince  Christian,  and 
received  from  the  population  of  Copenhagen  a  grand 
welcome.  She  brought  all  the  brightness  of  her  joy- 
ous youth  to  the  old  palaces  of  the  Danish  Sovereigns, 
and  soon  made  herself  a  favourite  with  both  the  King 
and  the  Queen.  Unfortunately,  the  latter  did  not  live 
long  to  enjoy  the  sight  of  her  grandson's  happiness, 

176 


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Photo:  11.  Paetz,  Copcnhnj^iU 

THE    ROYAL   FAMILY    OF    DENMARK 


« 


THE  COURT  CHANGES 

because  death  carried  her  away  in  the  month  of 
September  following  upon  the  marriage. 

When  Queen  Louise  died  a  gloom  settled  over 
Amalienborg  and  Fredensborg.  The  King  became 
morose  and  sad,  and  though  his  daughters  did  all  they 
could  to  cheer  up  his  solitude,  he  never  entirely  re- 
covered from  the  blow,  and  the  pleasant  family  gather- 
ings that  used  to  take  place  every  summer  in  Copen- 
hagen came  to  an  end.  Christian  IX.  died  in  1906, 
and  three  years  later  death  took  away  his  talented 
daughter-in-law,  the  consort  of  Prince  Waldemar, 
Princess  Marie  of  Orleans.  Everything  changed  at  the 
Danish  Court,  and  it  changes  still.  In  1912  King 
Frederick  VIII.  expired  in  his  turn,  and  the  young 
Queen  Alexandrine  is  now  reigning  in  the  place  of  her 
husband's  mother  and  grandmother.  But  in  spite  of 
her  relative  inexperience  she  has  quickly  become 
imbued  with  the  traditions  of  her  House,  and  tries 
through  her  own  family  connections  to  continue  exer- 
cising the  influence  wielded  in  past  days  by  King 
Christian  IX.  and  by  Queen  Louise.  She  is  especially 
overjoyed  whenever  Queen  Alexandra  or  the  Empress 
Marie  arrive  at  their  villa  of  Hvidore,  where  she  visits 
them  almost  daily.  She  has  some  Russian  blood  on 
her  own  mother's  side,  and  has  kept  on  affectionate 
terms  with  her  relatives  outside  of  the  familv.  It 
must  be  added  that  in  her  desire  to  imitate  Queen 
Louise,  whom  she  literally  worshipped  in  everything, 
she  also  has  become  affected  by  the  old  Queen's  pro- 
pensity for  marriage-making,  and  likes  to  have  a  hand 
in  all  the  important  Royal  weddings  that  take  place. 

M  177 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

She  contributed  to  that  of  her  cousin,  the  son  of  the 
Duchess  of  Cumberland,  with  the  Princess  Victoria 
Louise  of  Prussia,  and  it  was  a  subject  of  current  gossip 
in  Berlin  that  it  was  partly  through  her  interference 
that  the  strong  opposition  which  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Germany  made  to  his  sister's  wedding,  and  especially 
to  the  recognition  of  Prince  Ernest  Augustus  as  Duke 
of  Brunswick,  gave  way  at  last. 

If  one  is  to  believe  all  that  one  hears,  Queen 
Alexandrine  would  feel  most  happy  if  circumstances 
proved  favourable  to  an  alliance  between  her  eldest 
son,  the  present  Crown  Prince  of  Denmark,  and  one  of 
the  younger  daughters  of  her  cousin  the  Tsar.  Such 
an  alliance  would  bring  to  her  house  a  princess  who,  of 
all  those  whom  her  boy  could  marry,  would  be  the  one 
that  Denmark  would  acclaim  with  the  greatest  joy. 


178 


CHAPTER  X 

SAXONY  AND  OTHER  GERMAN   COURTS 

AMONG  the  greatest  scandals  that  ever  oecurred  in 
J~\^  any  Royal  House,  the  one  caused  by  the  flight 
of  the  Crown  Princess  of  Saxony  from  her  home  was 
perhaps  the  most  terrible.  Stories  without  number 
have  been  written  concerning  it,  and  yet  it  is  to  be 
doubted  whether  the  whole  truth  of  its  details  has 
ever  been  given  to  the  world,  in  spite  of  the  famous 
memoirs  which  the  heroine  of  it  was  induced,  very 
foolishly  indeed,  to  publish.  In  order  to  understand 
well  the  causes  that  led  to  the  culminating  act,  it  is 
necessary  to  take  things  from  their  very  beginning  and 
to  say  a  few  words  about  the  father  and  mother  of  the 
unfortunate  Princess  Louise — ^the  Archduke  Ferdinand 
of  Tuscany,  and  his  consort,  the  Archduchess  Alice  of 
Bourbon  Parma. 

Archduke  Ferdinand — who  was  familiarly  called  by 
his  family  and,  indeed,  by  the  whole  Imperial  House  of 
Habsbm'g,  "  Uncle  Nando " — was  one  of  those  men 
who,  if  they  had  been  born  common  mortals,  would 
have  been  considered  perfect  fools.  As  he  happened 
to  have  in  his  veins  some  of  the  bluest  blood  in  Europe, 
and  moreover  had  been  a  sovereign,  if  only  for  a 
moment,  he  had  managed  to  find  people  who  did  not 

179 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

see  the  insufficiency  which  his  character,  as  well  as  his 
general  appearance,  presented ;  who,  when  looking  at 
him,  remembered  only  that  he  was  a  descendant  of 
Marie  Ther^se,  and  that  he  had  been  a  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany. 

In  no  country  in  the  world  is  there  so  much  toadying 
to  Royalty,  and  in  general  to  titled  people,  as  there  is 
in  Austria.  Having  the  good  fortune  to  live  in  that 
country,  Ferdinand  IV.,  as  he  styled  himself,  seeing 
that  so  many  people  acclaimed  the  stupidities  which 
he  continually  uttered,  imagined  that  he  was  a  clever 
man,  and  insisted  on  his  opinions  being  heard  and 
listened  to.  His  temper  was  abominable,  and  he  ill- 
treated  his  wife,  a  sweet  but  eminently  insignificant 
creature,  who  had  been  told  to  marry  him  by  her  aunt, 
the  Comtesse  de  Chambord. 

This  aunt  had  taken  charge  of  the  education  of 
Princess  Alice  after  her  mother's  death,  and  con- 
sidered that  a  princess  ought  never  to  be  allowed  to 
wed  otherwise  than  with  the  man  selected  for  her 
by  those  who  were  responsible  for  her  welfare.  The 
Princess  Alice  was  educated,  therefore,  according  to  the 
principles  prevalent  at  the  Court  of  Modena,  the  most 
bigoted  and  intolerant  in  Europe.  She  had  never  been 
allowed  to  know  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  the  very 
mention  of  which  sent  a  shudder  through  the  frame 
of  the  Comtesse  de  Chambord.  So  that,  when  the 
Princess  was  told  that  a  marriage  had  been  arranged 
for  her  with  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  she  submitted 
with  resignation  to  this  change  in  her  daily  existence, 
and  did  not  even  dare  to  hint  that  this  husband  with 

i8o 


A  DUTIFUL  WIFE 

whom  she  was  going  to  be  saddled  was  about  fifteen 
years  older  than  herself — ugly,  untidy  in  his  appearance 
and  habits,  and  blessed  with  the  smallest  amount  of 
brains  imaginable.  She  allowed  herself  to  be  led  to 
the  altar,  and  after  the  ceremony,  which  transformed 
her  into  a  Grand  Duchess  of  Tuscany  without  a  duchy, 
she  went  meekly  to  live  at  Salzburg  with  her  husband, 
and  for  the  next  few  years  remained  in  the  old  Imperial 
castle  there,  which  had  been  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Tuscan  family  by  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph. 
At  Salzburg  the  Grand  Duchess  Alice  led  an  existence 
encompassed  with  much  state  and  ceremony,  in  which 
the  principal  occupations  consisted  in  going  to  church 
every  morning  and  having  a  child  every  year. 

The  Grand  Duke  was  constantly  surrounded  by 
priests,  and  made  several  Jesuit  Fathers  his  principal 
advisers,  who  helped  to  keep  him  in  an  atmosphere  of 
sacristy,  and  never  allowed  the  rumours  of  the  out- 
side world  to  reach  him,  far  less  his  young  wife.  The 
latter  had  not  enough  character  to  rebel.  She  honestly 
believed  that  she  would  go  straight  to  hell  if  she  omitted 
to  conform  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  Church  and  to 
the  commands  of  her  husband.  It  has  been  related 
that  the  Grand  Duke  having  objected  to  her  taking 
a  bath  every  day,  and  having  declared  that  it  was 
quite  sufficient  if  she  did  so  once  a  week,  the  young 
Grand  Duchess,  after  having  shed  a  good  many  tears 
at  this  strange  order,  never  had  the  courage  to  dis- 
obey it,  nor  to  dare  enter  into  her  tub  without  a 
curious  grey  flannel  garment  which  the  Grand  Duke 
had  had  specially  made  for  her,  and  in  which  she  was 

i8i 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

to  envelop  herself  entirely  before  she  had  permission 
to  bathe. 

It  can  be  imagined  that  a  woman  blessed  with  so 
little  strength  of  character,  and  of  such  small  inde- 
pendence, would  not  be  able  to  bring  up  her  children 
otherwise  than  in  the  same  narrow-minded  spirit  in 
which  her  own  education  had  been  conducted.  The 
little  archdukes  and  archduchesses  were  given  tutors 
and  governesses  carefully  selected  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
who  ruled  the  household  of  Ferdinand  of  Tuscany. 
The  young  people  grew  up  to  manhood  and  to  woman- 
hood neglected  and  left  to  their  own  devices  ;  they 
only  saw  their  mother  at  stated  hours,  and  mostly 
during  the  religious  services  which  they  had  to  attend 
several  times  a  day,  and  when  they  had  to  receive 
lessons  from  outside  masters,  someone  from  the  Court 
was  always  present.  One  morning  a  tutor,  who  had  to 
instruct  the  princesses  in  history,  having  dared  say 
that  in  spite  of  his  revolt  against  the  authority  of 
the  Church  Luther  was  a  great  man,  he  was  instantly 
dismissed  by  the  Grand  Duke,  who,  on  hearing  what 
he  had  told  his  pupils,  ordered  him  to  be  turned  out 
of  his  house  there  and  then,  and  advised  to  go  imme- 
diately to  confession,  so  as  not  to  incur  the  risk  of 
dying  whilst  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin. 

In  spite  of  all  these  precautions — perhaps  on  account 
of  them — the  daughters  of  the  Grand  Duke  and  Duchess 
of  Tuscany  managed  to  get  very  good  information  as 
to  what  was  really  going  on  in  the  world,  and  con- 
trived to  read  books  the  mere  mention  of  which  would 
have  sent  their  father  into  a  fit.     The  eldest  girl  especi- 

182 


NARROW  CHILDHOOD 

ally,  the  Princess  Louise,  whose  character  was  entirely 
different  from  that  of  her  sisters,  and  who,  from  her 
earliest  childhood,  had  shown  symptoms  of  an  inde- 
pendence previously  unknown  in  the  Tuscan  family, 
succeeded  in  reading  most  of  the  books  of  which  she 
saw  mention  in  the  newspapers  and  reviews.  These 
books,  with  the  connivance  of  one  of  her  maids,  she 
obtained  from  the  public  library  of  Salzburg.  She 
had  not,  of  course,  thoroughly  digested  them,  never 
having  been  guided  in  her  studies  ;  but  in  spite  of  her 
only  giving  attention  to  the  subjects  which  interested 
her,  her  knowledge  far  exceeded  that  of  cither  her 
parents  or  those  about  her. 

When  Louise  was  old  enough  to  go  out  into  society 
she  was  taken  to  Vienna  and  presented  at  Court,  where 
it  seems  the  Empress  Elisabeth  grew  fond  of  her,  and 
treated  her  with  much  kindness,  whilst  her  cousin,  the 
Crown  Prince  Rudolph,  amused  himself  by  initiating 
her  into  many  things  which  hitherto  had  remained  a 
sealed  book  to  her.  It  was  not  quite  to  her  advantage 
or  profit  that  she  fell  under  the  influence  of  this  un- 
fortunate young  man,  who  most  certainly  imbued  her 
with  some  of  his  own  ideas  and  with  his  personal  spirit 
of  revolt,  which  she  very  soon  came,  more  or  less,  to 
share — rather  more  than  less.  Several  offers  were 
made  to  her,  but  none  of  them  had  qualifications 
pleasing  to  her  parents,  who  wished  before  everything 
else  to  see  their  daughter  enter  a  family  circle  just  as 
pious  as  their  own  had  always  been,  and  where  they 
would  feel  sure  that  her  soul  would  be  well  cared 
for.      As  for  her  body,  this  was  an  entirely  secondary 

183 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

thing,  while  her  intelligence  was  never  taken  into 
account. 

There  was  at  that  time  living  at  the  Court  of  Vienna 
a  Princess  of  Saxony,  the  niece  of  King  Albert,  who 
was  married  to  the  Archduke  Otto,  the  heir  to  the 
throne  of  the  Habsburgs  after  his  brother,  the  Arch- 
duke Francis  Ferdinand.  She  was  an  excellent  woman, 
full  of  noble  qualities,  who  had  sought  and  found  in 
the  strict  observance  of  religious  practices  a  con- 
solation for  the  misfortunes  of  a  conjugal  existence 
during  which  she  was  subjected  to  the  most  disgrace- 
ful treatment  on  the  part  of  a  husband  who  was  notorious 
in  Vienna  and,  indeed,  all  over  Austria.  The  Arch- 
duchess Marie  Josepha  took  a  liking  to  the  young  girl 
who  was  making  her  debut  in  society,  and  planned 
to  take  her  out  of  surroundings  which  she  felt  were 
entirely  uncongenial  to  her,  and  to  find  her  a  husband. 
Her  own  brother — who  in  due  time  would  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  Saxony — was  in  search  of  a  wife,  and  she 
wrote  to  her  father  and  to  her  uncle  that  her  brother 
could  not  do  better  than  wed  the  eldest  daughter  of 
the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany. 

The  Archduchess  was  a  person  whose  opinions  were 
considered  as  commands  in  her  family  circle,  and  in 
answer  to  her  summons  Prince  Frederick  August  of 
Saxony  arrived  in  Vienna,  and  after  a  few  interviews 
with  the  girl  whom  his  sister  had  advised  him  to  marry, 
he  proposed  to  her,  to  the  immense  joy  of  her  parents, 
and  they  were  married  a  few  weeks  later. 

The  Princess  was  delighted  to  escape  from  the 
dull  atmosphere  of  her  home  at  Salzburg,  and  never 

184 


A  HARSH  FATHER-IN-LAW 

hesitated  one  moment  in  accepting  what  was,  without 
doubt,  an  excellent  match. 

She  had  no  idea  at  all  of  the  kind  of  life  which 
was  awaiting  her,  and  thought  only  of  the  moment 
when  she  would  become  Queen  of  Saxony,  and  would 
be  able  to  preside  over  a  Court  of  her  own,  which,  she 
promised  herself,  she  would  make  one  of  the  most 
entertaining  and  attractive  in  Europe. 

Alas  for  these  hopes  !  The  young  Archduchess  was 
no  sooner  in  Dresden  than  she  found  herself  encom- 
passed by  the  rules  of  an  etiquette  almost  as  bad — 
if  not  worse — than  the  one  which  prevailed  at  the 
Hofburg.  Though  she  was  the  second  lady  in  the 
land,  and  only  the  good-natured  Queen  Carola  had 
the  right  to  precede  her,  she  very  quickly  had  to 
recognise  that  it  would  be  quite  impossible  for  her 
to  do  what  she  liked,  or  to  stand  against  the  rules 
which,  since  time  immemorial,  had  been  prevalent  at 
the  Saxon  Court.  Though  she  had  no  mother-in- 
law,  she  found  herself  confronted  by  something  in- 
finitely worse — a  father-in-law  who  had  an  iron  will, 
and  who,  if  possible,  was  even  more  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Jesuits  than  her  own  father  had  been. 
She  wafe  expected  to  conform  to  all  the  petty  customs 
and  wishes  of  a  man  who  was  stupid  to  a  degree,  as 
events  proved  subsequently,  who  also  had  no  code  of 
honour,  few  gentlemanly  principles,  and  who  only 
looked  on  a  woman  as  something  quite  inferior,  whose 
duties  consisted  in  bringing  up  in  the  strict  codes  of 
the  Church  the  children  she  might  have  ;  who  had 
no  right   to   nourish   cither  opinions  or  ideas   of    her 

185 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

own,  whose  will  was  to  be  subordinated  to  that  of 
her  husband,  and  whose  worst  crime  would  be  to  ex- 
perience any  kind  of  feeling  of  friendship,  be  it  the 
most  innocent,  for  any  other  man.  Apart  from  these 
temperamental  idiosyncrasies,  Prince  Georg  of  Saxony 
had  also  certain  ideas  as  to  the  state  in  which  a  princess 
ought  to  live.  He  expected  his  daughter-in-law  to  see 
no  one  except  people  whom  he  would  allow  her  to 
receive;  to  go  nowhere  save  to  places  of  which  he 
approved  ;  and  never  to  dare  to  show  herself  in  public 
unless  attended  by  a  numerous  retinue.  All  these 
exigencies  made  the  Princess  Louise  very  miserable, 
and  it  is  no  wonder  that  she  did  her  best  to  influence 
her  husband  to  live  outside  of  Dresden  and  to  see  as 
little  as  possible  of  his  father,  Prince  Georg. 

King  Albert,  to  whom  she  might  have  appealed  for 
protection  against  the  tyranny  of  an  old  and  bad- 
tempered  man,  had  never  succeeded  in  winning  her 
confidence,  though  she  had  to  acknowledge  that  he 
had  always  shown  himself  most  kind  in  respect  to  her, 
and  on  more  than  one  occasion  had  even  taken  her 
part  against  her  father-in-law.  And  as  for  the  Queen 
Carola,  she  was  so  insignificant,  and  so  little  able  to 
come  to  the  help  of  anybody,  that  it  is  hardly  to  be 
wondered  that  the  future  Crown  Princess  considered 
it  worse  than  useless  to  apply  to  her,  sure  as  she  was 
that  the  only  reply  that  she  could  get  would  be  to  go 
to  church  and  pray  for  the  patience  which  she  so  much 
needed. 

Nevertheless,  so  long  as  King  Albert  lived  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Archduchess  was  more  or  less  tolerable.   She 

i86 


A  MISERABLE  EXISTENCE 

made  herself  very  well  liked  among  the  population 
and  the  society  of  Dresden,  where  she  was  generally 
pitied  for  the  restraint  Prince  Georg  of  Saxony  was 
putting  on  all  her  actions  ;  and  on  more  than  one 
occasion  the  mob  had  cheered  her  in  the  streets  as  she 
was  driving  through,  whilst  it  had  received  in  silence, 
and  even  with  hostility,  her  father-in-law.  Prince 
Georg  had  never  forgiven  her  for  this  insult,  which  he 
attributed  to  her  as  the  prime  cause  ;  and,  like  all 
narrow-minded  persons,  he  could  show  himself  very 
spiteful  when  he  felt  he  could  do  so  with  impunity. 
As  soon  as  King  Albert  died  King  Georg  began  to  sow 
dissension  between  his  son  and  daughter-in-law,  and 
instead  of  trying  to  win  the  Princess  Louise  by  kind- 
ness he  did  all  that  he  could  to  exasperate  her  and 
to  drive  her  to  seek  a  separation  from  the  Crown 
Prince,  which  would  have  allowed  King  Georg  to  send 
her  back  to  Vienna,  or  to  her  parents,  and  thus  to  get 
rid  of  a  person  whom  he  strongly  detested. 

Unfortunately  for  his  plans,  the  Crown  Prince — 
who  since  1904  has  reigned  as  King  Friedrieh  August 
III. — was  fond  of  his  wife.  She  was  bright,  intelligent, 
amusing  ;  she  had  brought  into  his  dull  existence  an 
interest  which  he  had  never  thought  he  could  experi- 
ence for  anything  or  anybody,  and  she  had  opened  new 
horizons  for  him.  Friedrieh  was,  if  less  bigoted,  just 
as  stupid  as  his  father,  of  whom  he  stood  in  mortal 
awe ;  but  he  was  of  a  kinder  disposition,  and  not  so 
mean  or  so  spiteful.  He  fully  recognised  the  real 
qualities  of  his  wife,  but  he  had  not  sufficient  intelli- 
gence  or   authority   over   her   ardent   and   passionate 

187 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

nature  to  try  to  persuade  her  to  resign  herself  to  cer- 
tain necessities,  and  to  look  to  the  future  in  order  to 
forget  the  miseries  of  the  present.  And  then  he  also 
was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  his  confessor,  with  whom 
the  Crown  Princess  had  never  been  able  to  get  on. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  Jesuits  had  more  to  do  with 
the  misfortunes  of  the  Princess  Louise  than  had  anyone 
else.  They  had  attempted  when  she  arrived  in  Dresden 
to  get  hold  of  her  and  to  induce  her  to  become  an 
instrument  in  their  hands  ;  and  having  failed  in  the 
attempt,  hated  her  as  only  a  woman  or  a  priest  can 
hate.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  when  they 
noticed  she  was  on  a  footing  of  hostility  with  the 
new  ruler  they  applied  themselves  to  persuade  King 
Georg  to  banish  the  rebellious  daughter-in-law  who 
had  dared  set  herself  in  opposition  to  his  wishes,  and 
who  had  refused  to  acknowledge  his  authority. 

The  Archduchess,  in  her  book  of  memoirs,  has 
related  that  when  she  left  Dresden  it  was  under  the 
fear  of  being  put  into  a  madhouse,  as  the  King  had 
threatened  to  do.  Whether  this  fear  was  justified  or 
not,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  It  is  certain  that  she  might 
have  avoided  such  a  fate  by  sticking  to  her  guns,  and 
insisting  on  remaining  in  her  palace,  appealing  for 
protection,  if  need  be,  to  the  feelings  of  affection  which 
the  Saxon  people  entertained  for  her.  The  King 
might  have  hesitated  then  to  afford  a  pretext  for  the 
population  of  the  capital  to  interfere  in  favour  of  the 
Crown  Princess ;  and  it  is  also  likely  that  if  she  had 
taken  the  trouble  to  speak  earnestly  to  the  Crown 
Prince,   she  would  have  had  sufficient  authority  and 

1 88 


LOCKED   OUT 

influence  over  him  to  compel  him  to  take  her  part 
and  to  leave  Dresden  together  with  her,  staying  abroad 
until  better  times  had  dawned  for  them  both.  The 
Crown  Princess,  with  all  her  intelligence,  was  also 
terribly  foolish  ;  she  played  into  the  hands  of  her 
enemies  and  allowed  them  to  work  upon  her  feelings 
until,  thoroughly  unnerved  and  terrified,  she  thought 
she  could  do  nothing  else  but  run  away  from  a  fate 
that  seemed  to  her  to  be  infinitely  worse  than  death 
itself. 

Now  comes  the  saddest  episode  in  all  this  sad 
story.  When  the  Crown  Princess  of  Saxony  ran  away 
from  her  husband  and  her  children,  her  first  instinct 
was  to  seek  protection  from  her  own  parents,  and 
so  she  started  for  Salzburg,  intending  to  ask  the 
Grand  Duke  and  Grand  Duchess  of  Tuscany  to  take 
her  into  their  house,  and  to  allow  her  to  remain  with 
them  until  the  death  of  King  Georg  would  allow  her  to 
return  to  Dresden.  But  when  she  arrived  at  Salzburg 
she  found  the  doors  of  the  palace  closed  against  her, 
and  she  was  told  by  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  Grand 
Duke's  Court  that  she  had  better  return  to  the  station 
and  take  the  next  train,  because  she  would  not  be 
allowed;to  see  her  parents.  In  vain  did  the  unfortunate 
Archduchess  beg  to  be  permitted  to  speak  with  her 
mother,  so  as  to  explain  to  her  the  circumstances  which 
had  induced  her  to  seek  a  refuge  in  her  paternal  home  ; 
she  was  only  met  with  the  same  cold  refusal,  and  when 
at  last  she  sent  a  short  note  to  the  Grand  Duchess 
imploring  her  to  grant  to  her  a  few  minutes'  interview, 
she  received  it  back  unopened,  with  a  remark  added 

189 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

on  the  envelope  in  the  handwriting  of  her  father,  in  which 
he  absolutely  forbade  her  ever  to  appeal  to  him  or  to 
her  mother  again. 

The  reason  that  induced  the  stupid  Ferdinand  of 
Tuscany  to  act  with  such  rigour,  and  thus  to  send 
his  own  daughter  to  her  destruction,  is  less  difficult  to 
understand  when  it  is  stated  that  the  very  same 
morning  he  had  received  a  long  letter  from  a  Jesuit 
Father,  in  whom  he  had  great  confidence.  This  priest 
represented  to  him  that  it  was  his  duty  after  the 
scandal  caused  by  his  daughter's  departure  from 
Dresden — which,  by  the  way,  was  not  yet  known  to 
the  public,  and  which  it  would  have  been  quite  easy 
to  hide  or  to  explain  by  the  desire  of  the  Princess  to 
spend  some  time  with  her  father  and  mother — to 
renounce  her,  and  to  express  his  public  disapproval 
of  a  conduct  that  savoured  of  insult  to  the  authority 
of  her  husband  and  of  her  Sovereign. 

Ferdinand  of  Tuscany  entered  at  once  into  the 
spirit  of  this  communication,  and,  after  having  sub- 
mitted it  to  his  own  confessor,  receiving  from  the 
latter  the  assurance  that  the  advice  tendered  was 
the  right  course  to  take,  and  that  his  conscience  as  a 
good  Catholic  could  not  allow  him  to  act  differently, 
he  refused  to  receive  his  child,  and  obliged  her  to  seek 
a  refuge  wherever  she  could,  far  from  those  who  were 
her  natural  protectors  and  who  ought  to  have  stood 
between  her  and  the  calumnies  of  the  world. 

The  Grand  Duke  did  even  more.  He  wrote  to  the 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph  and  begged  of  him  to  deprive 
the  Archduchess  of  her  title  and  of  her  arms  and  digni- 

190 


A  RIDICULOUS  MANIFESTO 

ties,  forbidding  her  to  call  herself  an  Imperial  Princess 
of  Austria.  He  thus  shut  before  her  every  road 
to  rehabilitation,  making  it  equally  impossible  for 
her  husband  to  take  her  back  and  to  forgive  her 
for  what,  after  all,  was  nothing  but  an  indiscretion 
which  she  already  repented,  and  which  she  would  have 
given  much  to  be  able  to  recall  and  to  repair. 

The  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  was  another  short- 
sighted simpleton,  who  did  not  understand  that  by 
this  action  he  was  throwing  dirt  into  his  own  face. 
He  fell  into  the  snare  and  signed  the  fatal  decree  which 
sent  as  an  outcast  into  the  world  a  woman  belonging 
to  his  blood  and  to  his  race,  and  thus  covered  with 
shame  his  own  person  and  the  whole  Royal  Family  of 
Saxony,  together  with  the  children  of  the  unfortunate 
Crown  Princess.  Her  father-in-law.  King  Georg,  piled 
injury  upon  injury  by  issuing  a  ridiculous  manifesto 
to  his  people,  in  which  he  proclaimed  publicly  his  son's 
dishonour.  When  one  recapitulates  all  the  incidents 
of  this  miserable  story,  one  wonders  who  was  the 
greatest  fool  in  it — the  heroine  of  it,  or  her  husband, 
or  the  King  her  father-in-law,  or  her  own  parents,  or 
the  man  in  his  dotage  who  still  occupies  the  tlirone  of 
Austria^ 

The  Princess  Louise,  deprived  of  name,  title,  posi- 
tion, scorned  and  forsaken  by  everybody,  found  in  her 
misery  only  one  of  her  brothers  to  take  her  part  and 
to  stand  by  her  in  her  heavy  trouble.  With  him  she 
went  to  Lindau,  where  a  French  tutor  joined  her,  it 
is  said,  at  the  suggestion  of  those  who  wished  to  see 
her  disgraced  even  further  than  was  the  case  already. 

191 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

It  was  at  Lindau  that  her  youngest  child,  the  Prin- 
cess Monica,  was  born,  and  at  Lindau,  too,  took  place 
the  different  negotiations  between  her  and  the  Saxon 
Court  in  regard  to  her  future  position  and  in  regard  to 
the  custody  of  the  little  girl  who  was  to  become  the 
bone  of  contention  in  all  this  miserable  and  disgraceful 
strife.  At  last,  thanks,  it  is  related,  to  the  intervention 
of  the  Pope,  a  modus  vivendi  was  arranged,  and  the 
Princess  received  the  title  of  Countess  di  Montignoso, 
and  an  allowance  sufficient  to  keep  her  in  comfort,  if 
without  luxury. 

For  a  period  she  disappeared  from  the  notice  of  the 

public,  and  nothing  was  heard  about  her  except  when, 

some  time  after  the   death   of  King   Georg,   and  her 

former   husband's   succession  to  the  throne,   she   was 

allowed  by  him  to  have  an  interview  with  her  two 

eldest  sons  at  Munich,  whither  also  repaired  the  now 

widowed  Grand  Duchess  of  Tuscany,  who  was  asked 

to  stand  by  her  daughter  on  this  memorable  occasion. 

It  was  related  at  the  time  that  this  interview  with  the 

Crown  Prince  and  his  brother  was  but  a  prelude  to  a 

reconciliation    between    their    mother    and   the    King, 

who  would  have  been  but  too  willing  to  take  her  back 

and  thus  to  rehabilitate  her  in  the  eyes  of  the  world. 

It   certainly   would   have   been   the   wisest   thing   she 

could  have  done  to  accede  to  his  request,  and  all  her 

friends  were  hoping  she  would  decide  to  take  this  most 

reasonable   step   and  return  to   Dresden,   where  it   is 

likely  that  she  would  have  succeeded  in  making  society 

forget  a  moment  of  madness  into  which  she  had  been 

literally  goaded,   and  which  led  her  to  fly  from  the 

192 


THE  GUP  OF  SORROW 

Court  under  the  protection  of  a  man  who  deserted 
her  later  on.  All  these  hopes  vanished,  however, 
when  one  day  the  world  was  startled  by  the  news 
that  the  former  Crown  Prineess  of  Saxony  had  been 
married  in  London  to  an  Italian  musie  -  master, 
a  man  far  removed  from  her  station  in  life.  This 
man  had  been  but  too  proud  to  win  for  his  wife 
a  daughter  of  the  illustrious  House  of  Habsburg  and 
the  divoreed  wife  of  a  king,  whilst  she,  poor  woman, 
had  been  glamoured  by  his  protestations  of  alfeetion. 

After  this  last  act  of  madness  even  the  best  friends 
of  the  Princess  Louise  felt  that  they  could  say  nothing 
in  defence  of  her  conduct.  She  had  willingly  and  with 
her  own  hand  deliberately  slain  all  the  chances  of 
happiness  which  she  had  still  possessed,  and  it  only 
remained  for  her  well-wishers  to  hope  and  to  pray 
that  she  might  not  repent  having  sacrificed  so  much 
for  the  sake  of  a  man  who  represented  so  little. 

She  enjoyed  a  few  short  months  of  supreme  felicity, 
then  disillusion  came,  and  with  it  the  inevitable  sorrows 
and  heart-burnings  which  always  follow  upon  such 
reckless  actions.  She  found  out  that  she  had  absolutely 
nothing  in  common  with  the  Italian,  whom  her  imagin- 
ation had  transformed  into  a  kind  of  demi-god,  and 
in  whose  affection  she  had  hoped  to  find  a  consolation 
for  all  the  miseries  of  her  past.  Soon  quarrels  ensued, 
followed  by  all  kinds  of  strife  ;  and  the  miserable, 
foolish  woman  found  that  she  had  laid  herself  open 
to  the  most  bitter  attacks  from  people  whom  no  sense 
of  honour,  and  no  scruples,  could  stop  in  their  deter- 
mination to  wreak  upon  her  the  lowest  and  meanest 

N  193 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

revenge  that  could  be  conceived.  Certainly  the  Prin- 
cess was  not  well  advised  when  she  published  the 
story  of  her  life  ;  but  this  does  not  excuse  the  pamphlet 
which  the  Italian  music-master,  with  whose  good  looks 
she  had  been  enthralled,  issued  against  the  woman  who 
had  sacrificed  everything  for  his  sake. 

Since  the  separation  which  put  an  end  to  the  second 
marriage  of  the  Countess  of  Montignoso  nothing  further 
has  been  heard  about  her.  She  has  vanished  into 
obscurity,  and  has  nevermore  thrust  herself  before 
the  attention  of  the  public.  It  has  been  rumoured 
that,  were  she  to  ask  his  permission,  the  King  of  Saxony 
would  not  object  if  she  were  to  take  up  an  abode  some- 
where near  Dresden,  and  that  he  was  even  ready  to 
offer  her  one  of  his  castles  as  a  place  of  residence  ; 
but  those  who  have  met  the  Countess  say  that  she 
would  never  submit  to  the  humiliation  which  the 
acceptance  of  such  an  offer  would  entail.  And  so, 
after  having  filled  the  world  with  her  name,  she  has 
vanished  into  space — this  reckless,  foolish  daughter  of 
the  Habsburgs,  who,  with  all  her  faults,  was  probably 
worth  far  more  even  in  the  matter  of  moral  principles 
than  those  who  drove  her  to  her  ruin. 

The  story  of  the  Crown  Princess  of  Saxony  has  re- 
minded me  of  the  other  misalliances  of  which  Ger- 
many has  recently  seen  so  many  among  the  inner  circle 
of  her  Royalties.  Perhaps  one  of  those  which  caused 
the  greatest  sensation,  because  it  was  about  the  first 
of  which  a  feminine  member  of  a  reigning  family  was 
guilty,  was  the  marriage  of  the  Princess  Henriette  of 
Schleswig-Holstein,    the   aunt   of  the   present  German 

194 


SOME  UNEQUAL   MARRIAGES 

Empress,  with  a  man  whose  birth  was  wholly  inferior, 
but  whose  scientific  knowledge  has  placed  him  among 
the  celebrities  of  modern  Germany — the  famous  Pro- 
fessor Esmarch.  It  caused  quite  an  abundance  of  talk ; 
people  wondered  how  the  Duke  of  Holstein  had  ever 
allowed  it  to  take  place.  But  to  those  who  knew  the 
material  conditions  which  existed  in  the  family  of  the 
Princess  Henriette  there  was  nothing  so  very  wonder- 
ful, after  all,  in  the  facility  with  which  she  obtained 
the  consent  of  the  head  of  her  House  to  this  unequal 
marriage.  She  had  barely  enough  to  live  upon  since 
the  confiscation  of  the  Holstein  estates  by  the  Prussian 
Government  after  the  war  with  Denmark,  whilst  Pro- 
fessor Esmarch  was  immensely  rich. 

The  Royal  House  of  Bavaria  has  also  some  unequal 
marriages  to  record.  Foremost  among  them  come  the 
two  unions  contracted  by  the  eldest  brother  of  the 
unfortunate  Empress  Elisabeth  of  Austria,  Duke  Louis 
in  Bavaria,  with  two  actresses,  of  whom  the  first,  who 
was  created  Baroness  of  Wallersee,  died  some  years 
ago,  whilst  the  second,  Madame  von  Bartoll,  divorced 
him  after  a  very  short  time,  alleging  against  him 
different  acts  of  cruelty  which  were  the  more  extra- 
ordinary in  that  he  was  already  an  old  man,  far  advanced 
into  the"  eighties. 

In  general,  the  Wittelsbach  family  has  been  remark- 
able for  its  extravagances,  which,  perhaps,  are  more 
the  fault  of  continual  intermarriage  with  each  other, 
or  with  the  Habsburgs,  than  the  hereditary  eccen- 
tricity which  has  always  been  one  of  its  principal 
characteristics.     The  fear  to  sully  its  escutcheon  by 

195 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

an  alliance  with  an  inferior  House  has  always  made 
it  seek  husbands  and  wives  in  Austria  or  among  the 
Italian  Bourbons,  and  this  constant  mixing  together 
of  the  same  blood  was  bound  to  have  painful  conse- 
quences in  the  matter  of  intellectual  development. 

If  we  consider  the  present  alliances  of  the  Bavarian 
Royal  Family  we  find  that  the  King  is  wedded  to  an 
archduchess,  whilst  his  son  and  heir.  Prince  Rupprecht, 
is  the  widower  of  one  of  his  cousins,  the  Princess 
Gabrielle  in  Bavaria,  the  sister  of  the  Queen  of  the 
Belgians.  His  brother,  Prince  Leopold,  is  the  husband 
of  the  Archduchess  Gisela,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph  and  of  a  Bavarian  princess  ; 
whilst  their  mother  was  also  a  Habsburg.  How  can 
one  expect,  under  the  circumstances,  that  a  family  which 
has  never  allowed  any  fresh  blood  to  mingle  with  its 
own  should  be  anything  else  than  eccentric,  with  a 
sprinkling  of  madness  here  and  there  ? 

So  far  as  other  German  reigning  families  are  con- 
cerned, there  is  not  much  to  say  in  regard  to  their 
alliances.  They  have  all  wedded  according  to  their 
rank,  and  the  quarterings  of  the  House  of  Baden,  of 
Saxe- Weimar,  of  Wiirtemberg,  and  of  Hesse  are  abso- 
lutely unimpeachable  from  the  heraldic  point  of  view. 
All  these  people  have  chosen  the  partners  of  their  lives 
among  their  own  select  circle,  and  never  allowed  any 
foreign  element  to  enter.  There  is  nothing  to  relate 
about  them,  and  certainly  nothing  interesting  in  the 
way  of  adventure  has  approached  them.  Nor  have 
their  marriages  had  anything  to  do  with  politics,  with 
the  exception  perhaps  of  that  of  the  Duke  of  Hesse, 

196 


GERMANY'S  SOLITUDE 

who  by  his  first  consort,  the  Princess  Victoria  Melita 
of  Coburg,  became  the  cousin  of  the  Tsar  before  the 
wedding  of  the  latter  with  his  youngest  sister,  the 
Princess  Alix,  made  him  his  brother-in-law.  The  war, 
however,  has  swept  away  all  such  ties.  It  has  left  Ger- 
many in  solitude.  Its  Royalties  have  no  matrimonial 
future  outside  their  own  States  and  kingdoms,  and 
can  only  expect  to  marry  and  intermarry  with  the 
Habsburgs. 


197 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  ROYAL  HOUSE   OF  SWEDEN 

ONE  of  the  most  curious  Royal  histories  of  modern 
Europe  is  the  romance  of  the  dynasty  of 
Bernadotte.  A  RepubHcan  general  of  no  birth  what- 
ever, the  son  of  a  lawyer  of  Pau  who  began  his  mili- 
tary career  as  a  private  in  an  infantry  regiment,  and 
who,  by  his  personal  merits  and  his  indomitable  courage, 
rose  to  the  dignity  of  a  Marshal  of  France,  was,  by  a 
freak  of  fortune  such  as  only  occurs  during  revolutions 
and  cataclysms  that  change  the  face  of  the  world, 
adopted  by  one  of  the  last  descendants  of  the  old  and 
illustrious  House  of  Wasa,  and  became  in  time  King 
of  Sweden,  the  country  in  Europe  where  the  aristocracy 
was  the  most  rigid  in  its  custom  never  to  allow  an  in- 
truder to  enter  its  ranks.  He  succeeded,  nevertheless, 
not  only  in  imposing  himself  upon  a  nobility  which 
had  kept  in  check  such  sovereigns  as  Charles  XII.  and 
Gustave  III.,  but  also  in  making  himself  universally  re- 
spected and  generally  liked  by  his  people.  He  brought 
to  the  Court  of  Sweden  the  simple  habits  combined  with 
an  exaggerated  love  for  magnificence  which  were  the 
distinctive  features  in  the  characters  of  all  the  generals 
of  Napoleon  I.  ;  and  when  he  died  he  left  his  posterity 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a  throne  to  which  they  never  could 

198 


AN  AWKWARD  BLUNDER 

have  aspired,  but  upon  which  they  have  maintained 
themselves  to  this  day,  whilst  so  many  others  have 
foundered  and  crumbled  into  dust  all  around  them. 

Charles  XIV.,  as  he  called  himself,  had  been  married 
a  considerable  number  of  years  when  he  became  King 
of  Sweden  and  Norway.  His  wife  was  of  very  humble 
origin,  Eugenie  Desiree  Clary,  the  daughter  of  a  rich 
merchant  of  Marseilles  whose  sister  was  the  wife  of 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  the  eldest  brother  of  Napoleon  I. 
She  had  neither  the  manners  nor  the  education  of  a 
queen,  and  when  her  husband  persuaded  her  to  join 
him  in  Sweden — a  thing  which  she  refused  to  do  for  a 
considerable  time — she  considerably  shocked  Stockholm 
society  by  the  various  mistakes  which  she  made  in 
the  matter  of  Court  ceremonial.  She  never  could  learn 
the  language  of  her  new  country,  and  an  amusing 
anecdote  is  related  concerning  her  in  those  most  enter- 
taining memoirs  written  by  Mme.  de  Hegermann 
Lidencrone.  It  seems  that  poor  Queen  Desiree  was 
taught  certain  phrases  in  Swedish  which  she  was  told 
she  had  to  use  at  her  first  reception.  When  ladies  were 
presented  to  her  she  was  to  say,  "  Are  you  married, 
madame  ?  "  And  then,  "  Have  you  any  children  ?  " 
Of  course,  she  did  not  understand  the  answers,  and 
was  so  unlucky  as  to  mix  things  up,  so  that  once  she 
began  her  conversation  with  a  lady  by  asking,  "  Have 
you  any  children  ?  "  The  lady  hastened  to  answer, 
"  Yes,  your  Majesty,  I  have  seven."  "  Are  you 
married  ?  "  then  asked  the  Queen  most  graciously,  to 
the  general  consternation  of  the  whole  assembly. 

Apart  from  her  ignorance  of  the  Swedish  language 

199 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

and  of  the  customs  of  a  Court,  the  consort  of  Charles 
Bernadotte  was  an  excellent  and  kind-hearted  creature, 
who,  besides,  had  enough  intelligence  to  understand 
that  she  would  further  the  interests  of  her  husband  more 
usefully  if  she  were  not  seen  too  much  in  Sweden,  so 
she  obtained  from  him  permission  to  return  to  Paris, 
"  on  a  short  visit,"  as  she  said;  and  she  never  went 
back  to  Stockholm,  but  died,  long  after  the  fall  of  the 
Napoleonic  dynasty,  in  the  lovely  palace  she  had  built 
for  herself  in  the  French  capital.  Busybodies  said 
that  Queen  Desiree  was  very  much  in  love  with  the 
famous  Prince  de  Talleyrand,  and  that  this  luckless 
passion  was  partly  the  reason  why  she  insisted  upon 
living  in  France. 

The  only  son  of  the  King  and  Queen — who  subse- 
quently reigned  as  King  Oscar  I.of  Sweden  and  Norway — 
did  not,  in  spite  of  his  Royal  crown,  find  it  an  easy 
thing  to  get  a  wife,  as  the  haughty  German  princesses 
whom  he  tried  to  win  did  not  take  kindly  to  his  plebeian 
origin.  At  last  he  wedded  the  daughter  of  Prince 
Eugene  of  Beauharnais,  Napoleon's  stepson,  the  Princess 
Josephine  of  Leuchtenberg,  who  brought  with  her  to 
the  Court  of  Stockholm  an  atmosphere  of  great  elegance. 
They  had  three  sons. 

The  eldest,  Charles  XV.,  was  lucky  enough  to  inspire 
with  feelings  of  deep  affection  the  Princess  Louise  of 
Nassau,  daughter  of  the  King  of  the  Netherlands,  and 
sister  of  the  Grand  Duchess  Sophie  of  Saxe- Weimar, 
and  of  the  father  of  the  present  Queen  of  Holland. 
She  brought  him  an  enormous  fortune  and  some  lovely 
jewels  as  her  dowry,  which,  after  her  death  and  that 

2CX) 


A  GOOD  QUEEN 

of  the  King,  passed  to  their  only  daughter,  who  was 
named  Louise,  Hke  her  mother.  Having  no  son,  the 
King's  brother,  Prince  Oscar,  succeeded  to  the  throne, 
but  not  to  the  millions  which  had  been  such  a 
material  help  to  his  predecessor  in  upholding  the 
dignity  of  his  rank.  Princess  Louise  became  the  wife 
of  the  late  King  Frederick  VIII.  of  Denmark  and  the 
mother  of  the  present  Sovereign. 

King  Oscar  II.  was  an  exceedingly  pleasant  man, 
very  artistic  in  his  tastes  and  pursuits,  rather  democratic 
in  his  manners,  and  most  attentive  to  ladies  in  general, 
no  matter  what  might  be  their  position  in  life,  which 
did  not  trouble  him  much  provided  they  had  pretty 
faces  and  graceful  figures.  He  had  married  a  Princess 
of  Nassau,  the  cousin  of  his  sister-in-law.  Queen  Louise, 
and  though  he  made  her  very  unhappy  the  couple 
knew  how  to  preserve  appearances,  and  were  never  seen 
or  heard  to  quarrel.  The  Queen  was  a  woman  of  great 
virtues,  most  charitable  disposition,  and  excellent  heart. 
Apart  from  these  qualities  she  was  clever,  had  dignified 
manners,  and  whenever  she  appeared  in  public  adorned 
with  the  Crown  jewels,  some  of  which  were  relics  of 
the  former  glories  of  the  Wasas,  she  looked  every  inch 
a  queen.  Her  marriage  with  the  head  of  the  Berna- 
dotte  dynasty  brought  it  many  advantages,  and  it  was 
during  the  reign  of  her  husband  that  it  took  its  place 
definitely  among  the  Courts  of  Europe,  and  was  accepted 
by  them  as  of  their  own  rank. 

Queen  Sophie  took  a  great  interest  in  the  intellec- 
tual and  social  development  of  Sweden,  as  well  as  in 
all  the  educational   questions  of  her  country,  and  she 

20I 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

brought  up  her  sons  admirably,  watching  them 
with  the  utmost  devotion  and  affection,  and  in- 
spiring them  with  her  own  love  for  everything  that 
was  good,  great,  and  useful  to  the  nation  over  which 
she  reigned. 

Queen  Sophie  was  a  great  matchmaker.  Ever  since 
the  birth  of  her  sons  she  had  thought  about  their  future 
establishment,  and  wondered  with  what  princesses  she 
could  ally  them.  The  eldest,  the  Crown  Prince  Gustave, 
was  a  most  distinguished  man,  and  promised  early  to 
become  the  wise  monarch  he  has  since  shown  himself 
to  be.  The  Queen  hoped  that  he  would  make  a  brilliant 
match,  and  whenever  she  visited  Germany  she  tried 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  marriageable  princesses 
of  that  country. 

Her  brother,  the  Duke  of  Nassau,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  he  had  been  despoiled  of  a  large  part  of 
his  domains  by  Prussia  during  the  war  of  1866,  had 
remained  on  terms  of  good  and  even  intimate  friend- 
ship with  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  whose  wife  was  the 
Princess  Louise  of  Prussia.  Princess  Louise  was  the  sister 
of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Germany,  to  whose  eldest  son  the 
Duke  was  meditating  marrying  his  only  daughter,  the 
Princess  Hilda  of  Nassau,  a  desire  which  he  realised  a 
few  years  later.  The  Duke  advised  his  sister  to  go  to 
Karlsruhe  and  to  carefully  observe  the  Princess  Victoria 
of  Baden,  the  daughter  of  the  Grand  Ducal  pair,  who, 
as  he  told  her,  was  in  possession  of  all  the  qualities 
which  are  considered  indispensable  in  a  future  queen. 
The  visit  took  place,  and  whilst  Queen  Sophie  was  at 
Karlsruhe  the  Crown  Prince  of  Sweden  joined  her.     It 

202 


PRINCESS  VICTORIA  OF  BADEN 

was  not  long  before  the  sweetness  of  the  young  princess 
appealed  to  him,  and  made  him  fall  in  with  pleasure 
with  the  Queen  of  Sweden's  plans. 

Princess  Victoria  of  Baden  was  a  great  match,  inas- 
much as  she  was  the  favourite  granddaughter  of  the 
old  Emperor  William,  and  also  her  near  relationship 
with  the  Imperial  House  of  Germany  would  ensure  to 
Sweden  the  protection  of  the  former  country  against 
a    Russian    aggression,   which,   for   some   reason   that 
has     never    been    explained,    is    feared    to    this    day 
in  Sweden.     She  was  rich  and  also  beautiful,  though 
a  trifle  too  tall,  which  was   not  such  a  disadvantage, 
because  the  Crown  Prince  also  boasted  of  a  consider- 
able number  of  inches  in  his  height.     She  was  clever, 
tactful,  and,   except  for  very  delicate  health,  was  the 
ideal  of  a  princess  who  was  destined  to  wear  one  day 
the  crown  of  a  queen  consort.      When  the  marriage 
took  place  it  was  considered  to  be  the  best  match  the 
Crown    Prince    could    possibly    have    made.     It    gave 
considerable  pleasure  in  Berlin,  where  there  were  re- 
joicings because  the  grandchild  of  the  beloved  Sovereign 
had  contracted  such  a  brilliant  alliance.     A  year  or 
two  later  the  Crown  Prince  and  Princess  of  Sweden 
went  on  a  visit  to  the  German  capital  on  the  occasion 
of  the   eightieth   birthday   of  the   Emperor,   and   the 
Crown    Princess's    presence   was    the    cause    of    much 
excitement  at  the  Berlin   Court,   where   she  and   her 
husband  were  received  with  delight  and  honour.     She 
created  an  immense  sensation  when  she  appeared  at 
the  concert  which  took  place  in  the  Old  Castle,  covered 
as  she  was  with  the  most  magnificent  diamonds  and 

203 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

sapphires.  And  when  she  visited  Berhn  again  after 
the  marriage  of  her  brother,  the  hereditary  Grand  Duke 
of  Baden,  with  the  Princess  Hilda  of  Nassau,  she 
found  that  the  impression  which  she  had  produced 
on  her  previous  visit  was  neither  forgotten  nor  effaced. 
It  would  be  useless  to  deny  that  the  Queen  of 
Sweden's  sympathies  are  essentially  German.  Gossip 
even  said  lately  in  Stockholm  that  this  fact  has  estranged 
her  from  her  daughter-in-law,  the  present  Crown 
Princess  Margaret,  but  the  loving  and  affectionate 
nature  of  these  two  Royal  ladies  does  not  make  this 
assertion  a  probable  one,  and  most  likely  it  is  but  one 
of  those  idle  rumours  such  as  ill-natured  people  like  to 
spread.  But  that  the  heart  of  Queen  Victoria  is  faith- 
ful to  the  land  of  her  birth  cannot  be  doubted,  nor  is 
it  to  be  wondered  at,  cons  idering  all  the  family  ties  which 
she  has  in  that  country,  where  her  aged  mother  lives, 
whom  she  visits  several  times  in  the  year.  However, 
her  affection  for  Germany  is  neither  a  fanatical  nor  an 
unreasonable  one,  and  it  is  likely  that  another  rumour, 
which  has  found  a  great  deal  of  credence  at  Stockholm 
lately,  is  more  exact  than  the  one  which  I  have  men- 
tioned above — namely,  that  the  Queen  has  made  re- 
peated efforts  to  use  her  influence  with  her  cousin 
the  Emperor  William  to  propose  a  conference  during 
which  the  terms  of  an  honourable  peace  could  be  dis- 
cussed so  as  to  put  an  end  to  the  miserable  strife  which 
is  desolating  Europe.  Queen  Victoria  has  great  influ- 
ence in  political  spheres  in  Berlin,  where  her  tact  is 
generally  recognised,  and  she  would  be  the  most  likely 
person  to  succeed  in  such  a  plan. 

204 


A  CONFIRMED  BACHELOR 

This  digression  has  carried  mc  far  from  Queen 
Sophie  of  Sweden  and  from  her  match-making  propen- 
sities, and  I  must  return  to  them.  When  she  had  seen 
her  eldest  son  the  Crown  Prince  well  settled  with  a 
wife  whom  he  loved,  she  began  once  more  to  think 
about  the  princesses  eligible  to  marry  her  other  three 
boys.  The  youngest,  Prince  Eugene,  had  declared  that 
he  intended  to  remain  a  bachelor,  and  that  nothing  in 
the  world  would  induce  him  to  give  up  the  unfettered 
existence  to  which  he  had  become  so  used.  He  was 
an  artist  of  no  mean  talent,  and  the  pictures  which 
he  sent  at  different  times  to  various  exhibitions  would 
have  been  commended,  even  if  he  had  not  been  a  mem- 
ber of  a  reigning  house.  He  had  built  for  himself  a 
lovely  villa  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Stockholm,  where 
he  lived  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  where,  if  the 
truth  be  told,  he  had  invited  more  than  once  ladies 
belonging  to  the  merry  set  of  the  capital  to  help  him 
to  while  away  the  solitude  of  his  days.  After  having 
made  several  attempts  to  get  him  to  consider  marriage, 
his  mother  at  last  gave  up  all  hope,  and  turned  her 
energies  towards  his  brother  Prince  Charles,  whom  she 
hoped  to  find  more  pliable  to  her  wishes. 

That  hope  was  justified.  The  young  Prince  hap- 
pened fo  be  in  love  with  his  cousin,  the  Princess  Inge- 
borg  of  Denmark,  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  Crown 
Prince,  but  he  had  never  dared  to  make  the  avowal 
of  this  affection  either  to  his  parents  or  to  the  Princess 
herself.  It  was  the  old  Queen  of  Denmark  who  learned 
the  truth  from  her  granddaughter  during  one  of  the 
frequent  visits  which  her  cousin  made  to  Copenhagen, 

205 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

and  who,  seeing  how  unhappy  the  young  people 
were,  took  it  upon  herself  to  speak  to  the  Crown  Prin- 
cess and  to  write  to  King  Oscar.  She  at  last,  not 
without  some  difficulty — because,  for  some  reason  or 
other,  the  former  objected  to  her  child  marrying  a  near 
relative — arranged  the  marriage.  It  took  place  at  the 
Danish  Court,  and  was  one  of  the  last  State  ceremonies 
which  the  venerable  Queen  attended  before  her  death. 

When  the  newly  married  couple  arrived  in  Stock- 
holm they  were  received  most  cordially  by  the  popula- 
tion of  the  Swedish  capital,  to  whom  the  Princess  Inge- 
borg  was  no  stranger,  as  she  had  often  been  there  with 
her  mother,  the  Crown  Princess  of  Denmark.  She  was 
not  regularly  beautiful,  but  essentially  smart,  with 
something  English  about  her,  which  she  had  copied 
from  her  aunt.  Queen  Alexandra,  whom  she  admired 
exceedingly  and  had  taken  as  her  model. 

The  young  bride  soon  made  herself  popular  in  the 
country  to  which  she  was  bound  by  so  many  ties  even 
before  it  had  become  her  own.  Fond  of  society.  Prin- 
cess Ingeborg  went  about  more  than  any  of  the  other 
members  of  the  Royal  Family,  and  was  seen  at  races, 
at  the  opera,  at  public  balls  even,  where  she  danced 
with  great  zest  and  animation,  and  everywhere  she 
radiated  somewhat  of  her  exuberant  spirits  and  bright- 
ness of  character  and  temper.  People  liked  her  and 
admired  the  dignified  frankness  of  her  manners  ;  they 
appreciated  the  free  and  easy  manner  in  which  she  put 
at  their  ease  all  those  who  were  admitted  into  her 
presence.  King  Oscar  was  very  fond  of  her,  and  en- 
joyed the  cleverness   of    her   conversation,   whilst  the 

206 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  PRINCE  OSCAR 

Queen  felt  delighted  to  see  her  son  happy,  and  rejoiced, 
moreover,  to  have  for  her  daughter  a  nieec  who  had 
always  been  her  favourite  ever  since  her  childhood. 
She  only  wished  that  Prince  Eugene  could  have  been 
induced  to  follow  the  good  example  of  his  brother,  and 
seek  for  himself  a  companion  as  charming  as  the  wife 
of  Prince  Charles. 

Before  the  latter's  marriage  another  of  his  brothers, 
Prince  Oscar,  had  been  the  hero  of  a  romance,  which 
for  a  considerable  time  occupied  the  minds  and  con- 
versation of  Stockholm  society  before  it  adjusted  itself, 
by  a  morganatic  marriage  with  one  of  the  Queen's 
ladies-in-waiting.  Miss  Ebba  Munck.  The  latter  was 
not  pretty,  but  clever,  agreeable,  and  very  religious — a 
fact  which  helped  to  win  her  the  heart  of  Prince  Oscar, 
who  was  himself  of  a  rather  mystic  temperament. 
The  lady-in-waiting  also  was  high  in  the  affections  of 
the  Queen,  who  was  a  most  rigid  Protestant,  and  who 
undertook  the  unpleasant  task  of  breaking  the  news 
to  the  King  that  their  son  preferred  to  renounce  the 
privileges  of  his  rank  rather  than  give  up  the  girl  whom 
he  loved,  although  he  knew  but  too  well  she  could 
never  hope  to  be  officially  recognised  as  a  Royal  Prin- 
cess of  Sweden  and  Norway. 

At  first  the  King  objected  so  strongly  that  it  seemed 
he  would  never  relent,  and  something  like  two  years 
passed  away  before  he  at  last  allowed  himself  to  be 
persuaded,  and  even  then  he  refused  to  be  present 
at  his  son's  marriage,  which  was  attended  only  by 
the  Queen,  who  from  the  first  had  been  most  favour- 
able to  it.     Prince  Oscar  took  the  name  and  title  of 

207 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Prince  Bernadotte,  whilst  his  children  received  that 
of  Counts  and  Countesses  of  Wisborg.  lie  settled  with 
his  wife  on  an  estate  which  he  possessed  in  the  country 
at  a  few  hours'  distance  from  Stockholm,  and  it  was 
only  when  his  sons  grew  up,  and  it  became  necessary 
for  them  to  attend  a  school,  that  they  returned  to  the 
capital,  where  they  lead  the  existence  of  private  people, 
and  are  but  seldom  seen  in  society.  The  Prince  can 
be  seen  sometimes  in  the  evening  when  he  takes  his 
dogs  out  for  a  walk  in  the  Hummle  Garten,  the  principal 
park  of  Stockholm,  and  no  one  would  guess  when  meeting 
this  grey-haired  old  gentleman  walking  leisurely  along, 
dressed  in  a  dark  coat,  with  a  rather  shabby  hat,  that 
he  is  the  son  of  one  king  and  the  brother  of  another. 

When  all  her  children  were  safely  married,  Queen 
Sophie  turned  her  thoughts  towards  her  grandsons.  She 
had  a  great  wish — which  one  day  she  confided  to  a 
personal  friend,  Mr.  Augustus  Hare — to  arrange  a  mar- 
riage for  one  of  her  own  boys  with  an  English  princess, 
but  as  events  did  not  then  favour  it,  she  reverted 
to  the  idea  when  the  sons  of  the  present  monarch 
reached  a  marriageable  age.  It  was  principally  at  her 
instigation  that  the  eldest,  Prince  Gustave  Adolphus, 
was  sent  to  Egypt  at  a  moment  when  she  knew  that 
the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Connaught  with  their  children 
were'wintering  there ;  and  it  was  she  who  first  approached 
the  Duchess  to  ascertain  whether  she  would  view 
with  favourable  eyes  a  union  between  the  future  King 
of  Sweden  and  her  eldest  girl,  the  Princess  Margaret. 

The  Duke  of  Connaught,  of  course,  referred  the 
matter  to  his  brother.  King  Edward,  who  was  quite 

208 


7. 


U 
y 


y. 


'A 

y 


~  J-,  i    . 

i  i.  ^-  ji 

z  z  ^~ 

S    '  u 

~  I/: 

—  u 


z 

Q 

■X. 


1/; 

U 

z 


z 

o 


A  HAPPY   UNION 

delighted,  and  encouraged  him  to  agree  to  the  demand 
of  the  Swedish  Court,  provided  the  Princess  herself 
was  not  averse  to  it.  The  English  Sovereign  belonged 
to  those  monarchs  who  believe  that  family  alliances 
may  prove  of  great  advantage  in  certain  political 
complications  and  crises  in  the  world  ;  and,  besides, 
he  was  most  anxious  to  see  his  numerous  nieces  occupy 
as  many  thrones  in  Europe  as  possible.  He  was, 
perhaps,  the  only  man  in  the  world  who  read  the  future 
with  an  unerring  perspicacity,  inasmuch  as  it  meant 
an  attack  of  Prussia  on  the  civilised  nations  of  the 
earth,  and  he  wished  England  to  be  in  possession  of 
strong  sympathies  wherever  it  was  possible  for  her 
to  secure  them.  He  knew,  also,  that  the  charm  of 
all  the  English  princesses — which  they  owe  to  the 
admirable  education  that  they  receive — very  quickly 
makes  them  popular,  wherever  they  happen  to  be,  and 
he  trusted  to  the  charm  and  wisdom  of  the  Princess 
Margaret  of  Connaught  to  win  for  Great  Britain  the 
goodwill  of  the  people  and  the  Government  of  Sweden. 
The  marriage  was  solemnised  with  great  pomp  at 
Windsor,  and  was  attended  by  the  parents  of  the 
bridegroom,  the  Crown  Prince  and  Crown  Princess  of 
Sweden,  who  came  over  to  England  for  this  important 
occasion.  It  turned  out  to  be  a  very  happy  union,  and 
the  Crown  Princess  immediately  won  the  affections  of 
the  Swedish  people.  She  is  bright,  amiable,  not  timid 
at  all,  and  yet  reserved  and  dignified  in  all  her  actions 
and  movements,  and  she  entered  with  pleasure  into  all 
the  interests  of  her  new  country,  appearing  only  to 
observe  its  good  points,  forgetting  the  bad  ones 
o  209 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

and  never  allowing  others  to  guess  that  she  had  seen 
them.  The  population  of  Stockholm  grew  to  like  her, 
and,  cold  as  the  Swedish  people  are  generally  in  their 
demeanour,  their  hearts  warmed  when  they  looked  at 
the  fair  beauty  of  the  youthful  English  princess,  who 
had  always  a  bright  word  and  a  pleasant  smile  for 
them.  She  had  children  too — sweet  babies,  with  their 
mother's  blue  eyes  and  lovely  hair — and  it  was  the 
prettiest  sight  in  the  world  to  watch  her  running 
about  the  avenues  of  the  park  of  Sogenfry,  the  summer 
seat  of  the  Crown  Prince,  with  her  little  boys  and  her 
beautiful  small  girl.  She  was  a  child  herself  in  all  but 
reason  and  maturity  of  judgment,  which  she  possessed 
far  beyond  her  years.  The  Dowager  Queen  Sophie 
doted  on  her,  and  never  felt  so  happy  as  when  she 
could  have  her  near  her;  even  her  sister-in-law, 
the  wayward  Princess  Marie  of  Russia,  liked  to  be  with 
her,  and  more  than  once  applied  to  her  for  advice, 
which,  unfortunately  for  her,  she  never  followed. 

Princess  Marie  was  also  hardly  more  than  a  child 
when  she  was  married,  at  sixteen,  to  a  man  she  hardly 
knew.  She  had  passed  a  sad  childhood  with  her  aunt, 
the  Grand  Duchess  Elizabeth  of  Russia,  who  had  brought 
her  up  most  rigidly  and  with  such  severity  that  the 
first  use  she  made  of  her  liberty,  when  at  last  it  was 
granted  to  her  through  her  marriage,  was  to  abuse  it. 
She  never  did  any  harm ;  indeed,  there  was  no  harm 
in  her  ;  after  all,  it  was  the  recklessness  of  inexperience 
and  an  indifference  to  the  world's  judgments  that 
savoured  of  Romanoff  hauteur,  and  which  simple 
Swedish   people   did   not   understand.     Princess   Marie 

210 


A  WAYWARD   CHILD 

was  immensely  liked  in  Sweden,  but  no  one  could 
understand  her  or  follow  her  in  the  utterly  wild 
flights  of  conduct  she  constantly  indulged  in.  She 
never  could  understand  the  habits  and  customs  of  a 
society  which,  being  very  small,  necessarily  was  very 
much  occupied  in  watching  its  neighbours,  and  especi- 
ally the  actions  of  the  Royal  family. 

Anecdotes  without  number  were  related  as  to  the 
utter  disregard  in  which  she  held  public  opinion,  and 
her  indifference  to  the  judgments  and  opinions  of  Mrs. 
Grundy.  At  first  people  were  amused  with  her  extra- 
vagances, and,  attributing  them  to  her  extreme  youth, 
forgave  them  freely,  remarking  that  she  was  but  a 
child  who  would  be  "  sobered  "  as  time  went  on.  The 
King  was  fond  of  her,  and  she  returned  his  affection. 
Gustave  V.  is  essentially  kind  and  sympathetic,  and 
perhaps  in  his  inmost  heart  he  felt  sorry  for  the  way- 
ward child  who  was  thus  thrust  into  a  strange  country, 
the  language  of  which  she  had  refused  to  learn,  the 
habits  of  which  seemed  to  her  so  strange  and  so  different 
from  anything  that  she  had  ever  seen  before.  Her 
education  had  not  prepared  her  for  the  exigencies  of 
life,  and  left  her  at  the  mercy  of  certain  disasters 
which  unfortunately  occur  in  the  course  of  nearly  every 
human  Tife. 

The  King  understood  all  this,  and  often  tried  to 
obtain  his  daughter-in-law's  confidence,  but  she  per- 
sistently refused  to  open  her  heart  to  him,  shutting 
herself  up  in  a  kind  of  haughty  reserve  from  the  only  man 
who  could  have  helped  her,  and  who  might  have  imposed 
silence  on   the  evil  tongues  already  making  mischief 

211 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

with  her  good  name.  The  Queen  did  not  Uke  Princess 
Marie — she  had  not  viewed  her  marriage  with  pleasure 
— and  the  Queen  Dowager,  who  at  first  had  rejoiced 
at  an  alliance  which  made  her  grandson  the  cousin  of 
the  Tsar  of  All  the  Russias,  became  prejudiced  also 
against  the  poor  little  princess,  whose  waywardness 
displeased  her,  and  whose  religion  was  abhorrent  to 
her.  It  was  not  long  before  Princess  Marie  turned  to 
her  own  people  for  comfort.  She  often  visited  the 
Russian  Legation,  where  she  could,  at  least,  talk  of  the 
subjects  that  interested  her,  and  forget  for  a  few  brief 
moments  that  she  lived  in  Sweden,  where  princesses 
could  not  do  as  they  liked. 

There  was  at  that  time  at  the  Russian  Legation 
a  lady  of  remarkable  intelligence,  Madame  Sergieieff, 
whose  husband  occupied  the  post  of  Minister  at  the 
Court  of  Sweden.  She  did  her  best  to  persuade  the 
Princess  Marie  to  resign  herself  to  her  lot,  and  to 
make  the  necessary  concessions  to  Stockholm  society. 
She  spoke  in  a  motherly  way  to  the  impetuous, 
impulsive  girl,  who  sobbed  loudly  whenever  she 
found  herself  thwarted  in  something  or  other  that 
was  not  in  strict  accordance  with  the  rules  which 
prevailed  in  Sweden.  Under  the  influence  of  Madame 
Sergieieff  the  young  princess  became  quieter,  and 
applied  herself  to  the  task  of  overcoming  the  preju- 
dices against  her  which  existed  in  the  minds  of  certain 
members  of  her  family.  She  did  not  like  the  Princess 
Ingeborg,  whom  she  accused  of  being  jealous  of  her- 
self, her  money,  and  her  jewels,  and  though  she  stood 
in  awe  of  the  Queen,   she  still  showed  herself   imper- 

212 


ROYAL  DISPLEASURE 

tinent  to  her.  This  exasperated  the  proud,  haughty 
Sovereign,  whose  notions  of  right  and  %NTong  differed 
so  essentially  from  those  of  the  Russian  princess  whom, 
much  against  her  will,  she  had  accepted  as  a  daughter- 
in-law. 

Unfortunately  for  the  princess,  Madame  Sergieieff 
became  a  widow  and  had  to  leave  Stockholm,  whereby 
the  Royal  little  butterfly  lost  the  only  disinterested 
friend  she  had.  The  new  Russian  Minister  who  was 
appointed,  M.  Sawinski,  was  hardly  capable  of  guiding 
such  a  headstrong,  stubborn  princess.  Nevertheless, 
she  thought  she  could  look  upon  him  as  an  adviser 
as  real  and  disinterested  as  Madame  Sergieieff,  and 
made  him  her  confidant.  They  used  to  take 
long  rides  together,  much  to  the  scandal  of  staid 
Stockholm  society,  which  considered  it  a  breach 
of  etiquette  and  of  good  taste.  And  one  day  when 
Prince  William  of  Sweden  had  a  particularly  stormy 
quarrel  with  his  wife,  she  rushed  to  the  Russian 
Legation  to  pour  out  the  story  of  her  wrongs,  real  or 
imaginary,  into  the  sympathetic  ears  of  M.  Sawinski. 
Princess  Marie  had  a  long  interview  with  him  in  his 
study,  and  when  this  became  known  even  the  patience 
of  the  King  was  exhausted,  and  he  spoke  to  his  daughter- 
in-law  rather  more  sharply  than  was  his  wont.  A  fiery 
interchange  of  words  ensued,  during  which  the  Princess 
declared  that  she  w^anted  a  divorce  and  to  return  to 
Russia.  When,  however,  she  sought  to  obtain  per- 
mission to  do  so,  she  met  with  a  cold  refusal  from  the 
Tsar,  who  advised  her  to  become  reconciled  with  her 
husband  and  to  remain  where  she  was. 

213 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Exasperated  beyond  measure,  the  Princess  wrote  an 
impertinent  letter  to  the  Empress,  and  taking  her  maid 
with  her,  she  left  for  Paris  one  fine  morning  to  join 
her  father,  who  was  living  there  with  his  second  wife, 
the  Countess  of  Hohenfelsen.  Princess  Marie  begged 
him  to  protect  her  against  what  she  called  the  bad 
treatment  which  she  had  to  endure  from  her  hus- 
band. The  Grand  Duke  Paul  received  his  daughter 
with  open  arms,  and  whatever  he  may  have  told  her 
in  private  he  took  her  part  in  public.  All  his  argu- 
ments failed  to  induce  the  Princess  to  return  to 
Stockholm,  which,  as  he  said,  was  quite  the  best  thing 
to  do,  whereupon  he  took  her  to  Petersburg,  where 
he  spoke  to  the  Emperor  and  at  last  succeeded  in 
obtaining  the  latter's  consent  to  a  divorce  which  would 
allow  the  Princess  Marie  to  return  to  Russia,  and 
resume  her  former  rank  and  position. 

What  seemed  at  first  easy  offered  considerable 
difficulties  afterwards,  because  of  financial  consider- 
ations. The  Court  of  Sweden  wanted  to  have  con- 
firmed the  rights  of  the  little  boy,  to  whom  the  consort 
of  Prince  William  had  given  birth  a  year  after  her 
marriage,  so  that  his  share  of  his  mother's  inheritance 
should  not  be  lost  to  him,  and  the  manner  in  which 
this  was  to  be  effected  gave  rise  to  considerable  dis- 
cussion. At  last  it  was  decided  that  the  child  should 
remain  in  Sweden  to  be  educated  there  by  the  Queen, 
and  that  his  mother  would  only  be  allowed  to  see  him 
at  stated  intervals.  This  being  agreed,  a  certain  sum 
out  of  the  Princess  Marie's  fortune  was  set  aside  for 
his  future  use  and  benefit,  together  with  the  lovely 

214 


HIDDEN  QUALITIES 

house  which  had  been  bought  for  her  in  Stockholm 
and  given  to  her  as  a  wedding  present  by  the  Tsar, 
At  the  conclusion  of  all  these  important  negotiations, 
which  were  ultimately  arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  interested  parties,  Marie  Pavlovna  was  allowed 
to  resume  her  rank  at  the  Russian  Court. 

At  first  the  reinstated  Grand  Duchess  Pavlovna 
declared  herself  delighted  ;  but  soon  she  found  that 
her  position  in  Russia  was  not  much  better  than  the 
one  she  had  fled  from  in  Stockholm.  Her  aunt,  the 
Empress  Dowager,  received  her  with  reproaches,  being 
more  severe,  indeed,  than  was  altogether  consistent 
with  justice.  The  girl,  goaded  out  of  all  patience, 
turned  round  upon  this,  and  in  her  turn  silenced  Marie 
Feodorovna  by  the  unexpected  and  clear  manner  in 
which  she  defended  herself ;  but  though  she  scored  in 
that  encounter  with  her  august  relative,  this  only  added 
to  the  difficulties  of  the  situation.  What  would  have 
happened  to  her  if  the  war  had  not  broken  out  it  is 
impossible  to  say,  but  it  proved  a  solution  to  the 
domestic  worries  of  the  divorced  wife  of  Prince  William 
of  Sweden.  She  immediately  enrolled  herself  under  the 
banner  of  the  Red  Cross,  and  in  her  capacity  of  Sister 
of  Charity  she  has  revealed  many  noble  qualities  which 
no  one  had  ever  suspected  her  of  possessing.  It  is 
likely  that  later  on  people  will  judge  the  Grand  Duchess 
less  harshly,  and  make  allowances  for  the  impetuosity 
of  a  child  who  was  launched  into  married  life  while 
she  was  yet  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  world,  and  who 
did  not  obtain  from  her  husband  the  help  and  sym- 
pathy which  she  had  the  right  to  expect  from  him. 

215 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  she  will  marry  again,  and, 
indeed,  the  probability  of  such  a  happening  has 
already  been  discussed.  She  is  young  and  pretty,  and 
probably  her  experiences  as  a  Sister  of  Charity  will 
do  much  to  sober  her;  and  though  her  conduct  in 
Sweden  may  have  given  rise  to  criticism,  it  had  never 
been  found  lacking  in  honesty.  Her  faults  have  been 
those  of  a  spoilt  child,  and,  unfortunately  for  her,  she 
has  been  compelled  to  expiate  them  with  a  woman's 
tears. 


2l6 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  BOURBON-ORLEANS  DYNASTY 

THOUGH  the  House  of  Bourbon  has  long  ceased 
to  count  among  the  Sovereign  famihes  of  Europe, 
this  circumstance  has  not  prevented  its  members  from 
contracting  brilHant  alHances,  and  in  some  cases 
marriages  that  have  brought  them  on  the  steps  of  still 
existing  thrones. 

The  Orleans  branch  especially  was  always  trying 
to  obtain,  by  marriage  or  b)y  inheritance,  advantages 
that  would  add  to  the  vast  fortunes  which  they  had 
accumulated,  and  in  some  cases  to  the  political  influ- 
ence which  they  had  succeeded  in  acquiring.  The 
head,  the  Comte  de  Paris,  was  certainly  the  most  dis- 
interested member  of  his  family,  perhaps  because  he 
felt  sure  that  whenever  a  revolution  or  some  unforeseen 
occurrence  would  give  back  to  the  Bourbons  the  crown 
which,  they  had  lost,  it  could  not  be  offered  to  anyone 
but  himself.  He  was  a  conscientious,  straightforward 
man,  but  without  any  great  strength  of  character, 
and  with  no  considerable  political  aptitude.  He 
expired  bravely  after  terrible  sufferings,  borne  with 
an  almost  superhuman  patience,  but  he  had  never  had 
the  courage  to  assert  himself  and  to  dare  to  do  any- 
thing to  force  France  to  recognise  him  as  its  legitimate 

217 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

king.  In  spite  of  the  high  name  which  he  bore,  and 
the  traditions  which  he  embodied,  he  was  at  heart  a 
Repubhcan  in  the  sense  that  he  would  not  have  tried 
to  impose  himself  on  the  French  nation  without  having 
been  requested  by  it  to  do  so.  Like  all  the  Orleans 
since  the  times  of  the  too  famous  Egalite,  he  was  a  child 
of  the  Revolution,  certain  principles  of  which  he  admired 
even  whilst  condemning  some  of  its  excesses.  In  a 
word,  he  was  essentially  bourgeois,  and  though  he 
was  the  fine  type  of  what  a  nobleman  should  be,  he 
never  could  become  a  grand  seigneur,  as,  for  instance, 
was  the  Comte  de  Chambord.  He  had  no  ambition 
for  himself,  and  scarcely  any  for  his  eldest  son,  perhaps 
because  he  felt  the  uselessness  of  it  in  face  of  the  char- 
acter and  habits  of  that  son  ;  but  he  was  desirous  of 
seeing  his  daughters  well  established  in  the  world.  He 
would  have  liked  them  to  wear  Royal  crowns,  as 
they  would  have  undoubtedly  done  had  he  himself 
occupied  the  throne  of  Louis  XIV.  From  the  time 
his  eldest  daughter,  the  Princess  Amelie,  attained  an 
age  when  she  could  have  been  married,  he  examined 
anxiously  all  the  chances  which  she  possessed  of  making 
a  brilliant  match,  and  was  heard  more  than  once  to 
declare  that  in  his  opinion  no  one  was  more  worthy 
of  becoming  a  queen. 

Whether  these  dreams  of  grandeur  would  ever  have 
had  a  chance  to  be  realised  it  is  hard  to  tell,  had  not 
quite  an  unforeseen  occurrence  happened,  the  result  of 
which  was  that  she  was  called  upon  to  become  the 
Sovereign  of  Portugal. 

This  unforeseen  circumstance  was  a  journey  which 

218 


LOVE  AT  FIRST  SIGHT 

the  Comtesse  Fernand  de  la  Ferronays,  one  of  the  per- 
sonal friends  of  the  Comte  and  Comtesse  de  Paris  took 
to  Lisbon.  A  wandering  spirit,  which  had  already 
made  the  Comtesse  explore  all  kinds  of  countries,  had 
taken  her  to  Portugal,  where  she  was  well  known  at 
Court,  having  had  occasion  to  meet  the  Queen  at 
Turin  and  Florence.  Maria  Pia  was  fond  of  the  viva- 
cious Frenchwoman,  who  passed  for  one  of  the  wittiest 
persons  in  Europe,  and  as  soon  as  she  heard  that  she 
had  arrived  in  the  Portuguese  capital  she  sent  her  son, 
the  Crown  Prince,  to  invite  her  to  come  and  see  her 
as  soon  as  possible.  When  the  Duke  of  Braganza,  as  he 
was  called,  arrived  at  the  hotel  where  the  Comtesse  de  la 
Ferronays  was  staying,  he  saw  on  her  table  the  photo- 
graph of  a  lovely  girl  which  interested  and  struck  him 
so  much  that  he  could  not  help  asking  his  hostess 
who  it  was,  and  on  hearing  that  it  was  the  portrait 
of  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  head  of  the  Orleans  family, 
he  declared  there  and  then  that  he  would  never  marry 
any  other  woman,  and  forthwith  begged  the  Comtesse  to 
help  him  to  happiness. 

The  Comtesse  Fernand  de  la  Ferronays  was  quite 
delighted,  and  she  hastened  to  write  to  the  Due 
d'Aunfiale  to  tell  him  of  this  unexpected  good  fortune. 
The  Duke  grasped  at  once  the  importance  of  the  com- 
munication, and  immediately  sent  to  the  Crown  Prince 
an  invitation  to  visit  Chantilly  the  next  time  his 
fancy  and  wanderings  led  him  to  France. 

A  few  months  later  saw  a  brilliant  assemblage 
gathered  together  under  the  stately  roof  of  the  Condes. 
The  whole  Orleans  family  was  there  to  begin  with;  the 

219 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Comte  and  Comtesse  de  Paris  and  their  children;  and 
there   were   also   invited   the   principal   notabilities   of 
the  Legitimist  party  in  France,  such  as  the  La  Roche- 
foucaulds,  the  Luynes,  d'Uzes,  and  that  brave  soldier, 
the  Baron  de  Charette.     Magnificent  hunts  and  enter- 
tainments were  given,  and  one  evening  at  dinner  about 
a  week  afterwards  the  Due  d'Aumale  got  up  and  pro- 
posed to  his  guests  to  drink  to  the  health  of  the  newly 
engaged  pair — the  Duke  of  Braganza,  heir  to  the  Crown 
of  Portugal,  and  his  niece,  the  Princess  Amelie  of  Orleans. 
The  wedding  took  place  in  the  following  May  at 
Lisbon,  and  was  preceded  by  the  most  imposing  Royalist 
demonstration  that   had   ever  taken  place  in  France 
since  the   Revolution  of  1830.     The  Comte  de  Paris 
gave  a  reception  at  the  Hotel  de  Galliera  in  the  rue  de 
Varennes,  where  he  resided  when  in  Paris,  to  which  all 
the  illustrious  of  France  were  invited.     The  Comtesse, 
with  the  Princess  Amelie  beside  her,  received  her  guests 
in  the  large  drawing-room.     She  stood  on  a  dais  which 
at  a  distance   could    easily  have   given   one   the   idea 
of  being  a  throne  ;  and  she  saluted  them  with  a  dignity 
that  she  had  learned  at  Madrid,  coupled  with  the  stiff- 
ness usually  displayed  by  the  Infantas  of  Spain.     She 
allowed  people  to  kiss  her  hand,  and  gave  herself  the 
airs  of  a  real  sovereign.      Crowds  passed  before  her, 
and  the  spontaneity  with  which  Paris  had  responded 
to  the  appeal  addressed  by  her  husband  to  his  followers 
gave  serious  anxiety  to  the  Government  of  the  Republic, 
which  saw  in  it  a  challenge  addressed  to  itself  and  to 
Republican  institutions.     When  the  Comte  and  Comtesse 
de  Paris  left  France  with  their  daughter  on  their  way 

220 


EXILED 

to  Portugal,  their  journey  gave  rise  to  other  demon 
strations  which  proved  that  the  monarchical  spirit 
was  still  alive  in  the  provinces.  The  French  Cabinet 
determined  to  put  an  end  to  this  movement,  which 
it  feared  might  become  a  source  of  serious  danger,  and 
it  proposed  to  the  Chambers  a  law  expelling  the  heads 
of  the  dynasties  that  had  reigned  in  France.  The 
bridal  dress  of  the  newly  wedded  Duchess  of  Braganza 
thus  contained  in  its  folds  the  order  of  exile  for  her 
father  and  mother  from  the  land  which  they  both  loved 
so  well. 

The  Comte  de  Paris  embarked  for  England  from 
the  little  French  town  of  Treport  in  Normandy,  which 
was  close  to  his  ancestral  castle  of  Eu,  whither  he  had 
repaired  to  spend  the  last  days  before  his  departure 
from  France.  He  was  never  to  see  it  again,  and  died 
at  Stowe  House,  the  splendid  domain  of  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  which  he  had  rented  as  a  residence  when 
he  arrived  in  England,  and  where  his  daughter,  the 
Princess  Amelie,  who  had  already  become  Queen  of 
Portugal,  came  to  spend  with  him  the  last  weeks  of 
his  life.  He  was  warmly  attached  to  her,  and  expired 
with  the  hope  that  at  least  one  of  his  children  was 
safely  .provided  for.  How  little  he  guessed  all  that 
lay  in  store  for  that  beloved  daughter;  and  how  she 
was  to  feel  afterwards  that  God  was  merciful  when  He 
carried  away  her  father  before  the  misfortunes  came 
which  were  to  overpower  her  and  send  her  also  into 
exile,  bereft  of  husband,  son,  and  crown — calamities 
which  he  would  have  felt  far  more  keenly  than  he  did 
the  personal  ones  which  had  befallen  him. 

221 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

When  the  Comte  de  Paris  disappeared  from  the 
political  scene  none  of  his  other  children  were  married. 
But  a  few  months  after  he  had  breathed  his  last,  his 
second  daughter,  the  Princess  H^l^ne  of  France,  became 
engaged  to  the  nephew  of  the  King  of  Italy,  Emmanuel 
Philibert  of  Savoy,  Duke  of  Aosta.  This  was  not  a  love 
match,  on  her  part  at  least,  because  she  had  lost  her 
heart  long  ago  to  the  young  Duke  of  Clarence,  the  son 
of  the  then  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales,  and  had 
also  inspired  him  with  a  deep  and  passionate  affection. 
Politics  interfered  and  rendered  their  union  an  impossi- 
bility, owing  to  the  difference  of  religion  which  stood 
between  them  and  their  happiness.  It  was  out  of 
question  for  an  English  Queen  to  be  anything  but 
Protestant ;  and  the  Princess  Hel^ne  was  far  too  con- 
vinced a  Roman  Catholic  to  consent  to  an  abjura- 
tion, which,  besides,  would  have  brought  about  a 
complete  breach  between  her  and  her  family.  Her 
heart  was  broken,  but  she  would  not  consent  to  buy 
the  happiness  of  her  life  by  means  of  an  action 
against  which  all  her  soul  and  conscience  arose  with 
indignation.  After  much  sorrow  and  many  tears  shed 
in  the  silence  of  her  room  she  gave  up  the  hope  of 
wedding  the  man  she  loved  so  ardently,  and  made  that 
bitter  sacrifice  with  simplicity  and  courage,  but  with 
the  feeling  that,  though  so  yoimg,  she  had,  accord- 
ing to  the  expression  of  the  Empress  Elisabeth 
of  Austria,  "  inwardly  died "  long  before  the 
hour  came  when  henceforward  for  her  the  world 
lacked  everything  that  made  it  bright  and  beau- 
tiful. 

222 


PRINCESS  HfiLfeNE   OF  FRANCE 

The  Princess  Hel^ne  was  one  of  the  loveliest  women 
in  Europe — tall  and  fair,  with  a  magnificent  figure,  and 
a  carriage  that  any  queen  might  have  envied.     After 
the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence  some  people  in  Russia 
as  well  as  in  France  wanted  to  arrange  a  marriage 
between   her  and   the   eldest   son   of  the  Tsar.     And, 
strange  to  say,   the  difference  of  religion  which  also 
existed  between  them  was  no  longer  taken  into  account, 
it  even  being  rumoured  that  the  Pope,  when  consulted 
on  the  subject,  had  declared  that  there  might  be  means 
of  settling  this  difficult  point  to  the  general  satisfaction. 
The  marriage  would   have   had  an  immense  political 
importance,  and   perhaps   on   that  very  account  could 
not  take  place.     In  Russia  it  would  most  undoubtedly 
have   been   viewed   with   considerable   satisfaction,    as 
France  was  already  very  popular  there,  and  there  were 
many  people  in  Petersburg  who  would  have  welcomed 
with    enthusiasm   a    French   princess    as   their   future 
Sovereign. 

Other  considerations,  however,  prevailed,  and  per- 
haps, also,  German  influences — which  were  still  very 
powerful  in  Russia — were  strong  enough  to  nip  this 
plan  in  the  bud.  And  at  last,  when  the  Duke  of  Aosta, 
young,  handsome,  amiable,  clever,  and  the  possessor 
of  a  considerable  fortune,  presented  himself  as  a  suitor 
for  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Helene,  she  was  persuaded 
by  her  mother,  the  Comtesse  de  Paris,  who  had  strong 
Italian  sympathies,  to  accept  his  offer.  She  was  mar- 
ried in  the  land  of  exile  which  had  proved  so  hospitable 
to  her  and  to  all  her  race.  The  ceremony  took  place 
at  Kingston-on-Thames — where,  by  the  way,  the  Comte 

223 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

de  Paris  was  bui'ied — and  the  Duke  and  Duchess  left 
for  Turin  immediately  afterwards.  In  Italy  she  made 
herself  loved  at  once,  and  very  soon  venerated,  especi- 
ally by  the  poorer  classes  of  the  population,  to  whom 
she  showed  herself  most  generous.  During  a  severe 
illness  which  she  underwent  a  few  years  after  her 
marriage  all  the  poor  of  Turin  crowded  in  the  numer- 
ous churches  of  the  town  and  day  and  night  prayed 
for  her  recovery.  All  over  Italy  she  was  beloved  as 
no  princess  had  ever  been  before  her,  but  she  was  not 
happy,  and,  indeed,  could  hardly  be  so,  with  all  the 
remembrances  that  must  have  interfered  with  her 
enjoyment  of  the  pleasures  and  the  grandeurs  of  the 
world.  She  bore  two  sons,  who  for  some  time  were 
considered  as  the  future  heirs  to  the  Crown  of  Italy, 
until  at  last  the  Queen  gave  birth  to  the  Prince  of 
Piedmont.  After  the  illness  to  which  I  have  alluded 
the  health  of  the  young  Duchess  never  became  satis- 
factory, and  though  the  King  had  appointed  the  Duke 
to  the  command  of  an  army  corps  at  Naples,  in  the 
hope  that  the  climate  might  prove  beneficial  to  his 
consort,  she  could  not  even  reside  there  during  the 
winter  months,  and  had  to  repair  to  Egypt,  where  she 
spent  several  years  in  succession  in  the  Soudan.  The 
marriage  of  the  Duchess  of  Aosta,  though  almost  as 
brilliant  as  that  of  her  sister,  the  Queen  of  Portugal, 
was  not  a  happy  one,  perhaps  because  it  presented 
too  many  chances  of  happiness,  for,  as  a  rule,  fate 
does  not  allow  poor  mortals  to  enjoy  the  good  things 
which  it  apparently  showers  upon  them. 

About  a  year  after  the  day  which  saw  the  Princess 

224 


THE  ORLEANS   DYNASTY 

H^l^ne  united  to  Emmanuel  Philibert  of  Savoy,  her 
brother,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  had  wedded  the  Arch- 
duchess Marie  Dorothee  of  Austria  in  Vienna.  She  was 
a  distant  cousin,  being  the  daughter  of  the  Princess 
Clotilde  of  Saxe-Coburg,  whose  mother  was  the  famous 
Princess  Clementine  of  Orleans,  the  cleverest  of  the 
many  clever  children  of  Louis  Philippe.  The  marriage 
was  considered  a  splendid  one  for  both  parties.  It 
delighted  the  soul  of  the  Comtesse  de  Paris,  whom  the 
constant  extravagances  of  her  eldest  son  had  rendered 
most  unhappy,  and  who  hoped  that  he  would  at  last 
settle  down  and  try  to  become  a  good  husband  and 
father  to  the  children  she  fondly  imagined  would  be 
born  to  him,  so  that  the  direct  line  of  succession  of 
the  Orleans  dynasty  might  be  continued. 

The  Archduchess  was  a  person  of  the  highest  merit 
and  of  transcendent  virtue.  Without  having  the  pretti- 
ness  of  absolutely  regular  features,  she  had  an  imposing 
appearance,  a  splendid  figure,  and  was  altogether  a 
beautiful  woman.  She  possessed  everything  that  could 
make  a  man  happy,  and  the  whole  time  that  she  lived 
with  the  Duke  of  Orleans  she  fulfilled  admirably  the 
duties  which  her  position  as  consort  of  the  head  of 
the  House  of  France  entailed  upon  her.  She  won  the 
respect  *.and  the  esteem  of  all  the  Royalist  party,  but 
did  not  succeed  in  retaining  the  affections  of  her  hus- 
band, from  whom  she  parted  at  last,  not,  however, 
without  having  been  obliged  to  appeal  to  the  law 
courts  to  assure  her  an  income  befitting  her  rank,  which 
the  Duke  refused  to  grant  to  her. 

The  last  time  she  publicly  appeared  as  Duchess  of 

p  225 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

Orleans  was  when  her  youngest  sister-in-law,  the  Princess 
Louise,  was  wedded  at  Wood  Norton  with  Prince  Charles 
of  Bourbon  Sicily,  an  event  which  was  graced  by  the 
presence  of  King  Alphonso  of  Spain,  together  with  his 
young  wife,  Queen  Victoria  Eugenie,  of  the  Queen  of 
Portugal,  and  several  members  of  the  English  Royal 
Family,  together  with  nearly  all  those  of  the  House 
of  Orleans  or  of  Naples.  The  event,  which  was  cele- 
brated amidst  great  splendour,  was  also  remarkable 
because  Queen  Amelie  of  Portugal  was  never  again 
after  that  day  able  to  show  herself  abroad  as  a  reigning 
queen,  for  only  a  few  months  later  King  Carlos  was 
assassinated  at  Lisbon,  and  when  she  next  came  to 
England  it  was  as  an  exile  and  a  fugitive. 

In  addition  to  Queen  Amelie,  the  Duchess  of  Aosta 
and  the  Princess  Louise  of  Bourbon,  the  Comte  de  Paris 
had  another  daughter,  the  Princess  Isabella,  who  wedded 
her  cousin,  the  Due  de  Guise,  the  youngest  son  of  the 
Due  and  Duchesse  de  Chartres.  The  Princess  Isabella  is 
the  most  brilliant  member  of  a  very  clever  family,  and 
though  she  is  seldom  seen  in  Paris — living  the  greater 
part  of  the  year  either  in  her  castle  of  Nouvion-en- 
Thierache,  in  the  department  of  Aisne,  or  else  on  an 
estate  which  the  Duke  bought  in  Morocco — she  is  always 
welcomed  with  great  effusion  by  the  multitude  of 
friends  she  has  in  the  French  capital  whenever  she 
returns  to  it. 

The  Orleans,  I  have  related  already,  were  always 
most  careful  to  seek  material  benefits  from  all  the  alli- 
ances which  they  contracted.  Though  they  were  "  kings 
in  exile,"  this  did  not  prevent  them  from  finding  wives 

226 


PRINCESS   ISABELLA 

and  husbands  who  brought  them  these  advantages. 
For  instance,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Nemours, 
the  Comte  d'Eu,  went  to  Brazil  on  purpose  to  offer 
himself  as  a  husband  to  the  heiress  of  that  empire, 
the  Princess  Isabella.  She  was  not  well  favoured  in 
looks,  but  kind  and  good,  and  she  made  him  an  excellent 
wife.  Their  marriage  created  a  stir  in  the  diplomatic 
world,  and  intensely  displeased  Napoleon  III.,  who 
did  not  care  to  see  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Orleans  wedded  to  a  future  Empress,  and  who  tried 
by  all  the  means  in  his  power  to  prevent  it  from  taking 
place.  His  trouble  was  quite  unnecessary,  as  later 
events  proved,  because  Dom  Pedro  II.  was  overturned 
by  a  revolution,  and  had  to  fly  to  France ;  there  he 
ultimately  died  in  Paris  at  the  Hotel  Bedford,  where 
he  occupied  a  large  suite  of  rooms  for  many  years.  It 
has  been  said  that  had  he  abdicated  in  favour  of  the 
Princess  Isabella,  as  he  was  asked  to  do,  his  dynasty 
might  have  remained  in  possession  of  the  throne.  The 
Princess  was  popular  in  Brazil,  largely  owing  to  the 
decree  which  she  had  signed  during  one  of  her  numerous 
regencies  exercised  whilst  her  father  was  travelling  in 
Europe.  This  decree  abolished  slavery  all  over  her 
states,  and  it  was  even  hinted  to  her  that  she  ought 
to  put**  herself  at  the  head  of  the  Revolutionary 
movement,  and  thus  save  her  inheritance  for  her 
children.  She  rejected  this  offer  with  scorn,  and  de- 
clared that  rather  than  usurp  a  throne  which  did 
not  belong  to  her  she  preferred  to  follow  her  father 
into  exile  ;  which  she  did,  living  ever  since  either  in 
Paris,  where  she  has  bought  a  splendid  villa  at  Boulogne- 

227 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

sur-Seine,  or  else  at  the  castle  of  Eu,  which  her  husband 
had  purchased  from  his  nephew,  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
during  one  of  the  financial  crises  which  recurred  periodic- 
ally in  the  latter's  life. 

The  Count  and  Countess  have  improved  the  old 
domain,  and  have  gathered  together  many  family  relics 
of  the  Bourbon  and  Braganza  dynasties,  which  they 
cherish  and  keep  most  preciously.  The  Countess  d'Eu 
is  now  an  old  woman,  very  proud  and  haughty,  but 
extremely  charitable  and  good,  who,  being  far  cleverer 
than  her  husband,  is  nevertheless  always  most  anxious 
not  to  let  the  outside  world  discover  the  fact.  She 
has  three  sons,  of  whom  the  eldest,  Dom  Pedro,  as  he 
is  called,  is  a  fat  and  fair  fellow,  extremely  good- 
natured,  with  a  sufficient  amount  of  brains  to  go  about 
most  comfortably  in  the  world.  He  made  a  morganatic 
marriage,  much  to  the  distress  of  his  parents,  who 
for  a  long  time  refused  him  permission  to  wed  the 
Countess  Elisabeth  Dobrzensky,  an  Austrian  lady  with 
whom  he  had  been  in  love  ever  since  he  left  the 
schoolroom.  His  parents  at  last  gave  their  consent 
only  under  the  condition  that  he  should  renounce 
his  rights  to  the  throne  of  Brazil  in  favour  of  his 
younger  brother  Prince  Louis,  and  further  that  he 
should  wait  until  the  latter  was  married — conditions 
to  which  he  cheerfully  assented.  Just  one  week  after 
Prince  Louis  had  been  united  with  much  pomp  and 
ceremony  to  the  Princess  Maria  Pia  of  Bourbon,  one 
of  the  daughters  of  the  Count  and  Countess  of  Caserta, 
Dom  Pedro  married  quite  privately,  in  the  presence  of 
only  a  few    friends,  the   girl    for  whose    sake   he   had 

228 


A  MARTYR'S  DEATH 

given  up  the  chance — remote,  it  is  true — of  becoming 
an  Emperor. 

The  Comte  d'Eu  had  one  brother,  the  Duke  of 
Alen9on,  a  saintly  man  who  should  have  been  a  monk,  and 
who  never  should  have  married,  as  he  did,  the  Princess 
Sophie  in  Bavaria,  sister  of  the  Empress  Elisabeth  of 
Austria,  and  of  the  once  lovely  Queen  of  Naples.  She 
was  burned  to  death  during  the  fire  that  consumed  the 
famous  Bazar  dc  la  Charite  in  Paris.  During  her  life- 
time she  had  always  shown  herself  more  or  less  eccen- 
tric. It  was  related  to  me  by  a  survivor  of  this  a\vful 
catastrophe  that  when  the  flames  were  already  spread- 
ing towards  the  place  where  the  Duchess  was  standing 
immovable  at  her  counter,  one  of  the  persons  present 
implored  her  to  follow  her  and  try  to  get  out  of 
the  furnace,  which  they  might  yet  have  done.  In 
reply  Sophie  in  Bavaria  quietly  said,  "  Not  before 
all  the  rest  have  gone  out,"  and  taking  the  pins  out 
of  her  glorious  hair  she  allowed  it  to  fall  on  her 
shoulders,  kneeling  down  at  the  same  time  and  begin- 
ning to  pray  in  a  loud  voice.  The  last  that  was  seen 
of  her  was  when  her  hair  caught  fire,  and  for  one  moment 
her  figure  emerged  out  of  an  ocean  of  flame  ;  then  the 
smoke  prevented  anything  further  from  being  seen, 
and  th*e  whole  building  crumbled  down  over  those  un- 
fortunate victims  who  had  not  been  able  to  escape. 
The  body  of  the  Duchess  of  Alen9on — so  disfigured 
that  it  was  only  by  her  wedding-ring  that  it  was 
recognised — was  found  the  next  day  and  was  taken 
to  the  Orleans  family  vault  at  Dreux. 

Two  children  had  been  born  to  her — a  boy  and  a 

229 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

girl.  The  latter  married  one  of  her  Bavarian  cousins, 
Prince  Alphonso,  and  lives  in  Munich,  whilst  the  former, 
preferring  Paris  to  every  other  place  in  the  world, 
determined  to  find  for  himself  a  consort  who  would 
share  this  taste  with  him.  This  was  not  so  very  easy, 
considering  the  fact  that  there  were  no  more  disposable 
Orleans  princesses,  and  for  some  reasons,  into  which 
it  is  useless  to  enter  here,  the  Due  de  Vendome — for 
such  was  his  title — did  not  care  to  unite  himself  to 
a  Bourbon  of  the  Sicilian  line. 

At  this  juncture  one  of  the  oldest  friends  of  the 
Orleans  family,  the  Marquis  de  Beauvoir,  who  for  a 
considerable  time  had  occupied  the  position  of  private 
secretary  to  the  Comte  de  Paris,  made  the  proposition 
that  the  Due  de  Vendome  should  seek  the  hand  of 
the  Princess  Henriette  of  Belgium,  the  eldest  daughter 
of  the  Count  and  Countess  of  Flanders.  She  had  a 
dowry  amounting  to  several  millions,  and  was  very 
beautiful ;  but  rumour  would  have  it  that  she  was 
already  engaged  to  some  German  prince,  and  the 
Due  d'Alen9on  did  not  wish  to  expose  his  son  to  the 
risk  of  a  refusal.  The  Marquis  de  Beauvoir  then  offered 
to  go  to  Brussels  and  ascertain  for  himself  whether  the 
news  was  true  or  not,  and  if  not  to  find  out  prudently 
whether  there  was  any  chance  for  the  Due  de  Vendome 
to  be  accepted  as  a  husband  by  the  Princess  Henriette 
and  her  parents. 

The  marquis  started  for  Belgium,  and  it  did  not 
take  him  long  to  convince  himself  that  an  alliance 
with  the  House  of  Orleans — to  which  the  Belgian  dynasty 
was  already  related — would  prove  very  acceptable   to 

230 


BELGIAN  REGARD  FOR  SPAIN 

the  Count  of  Flanders,  as  well  as  to  his  brother,  King 
Leopold,  who  always  had  the  last  word  in  all  ques- 
tions concerning  the  establishment  of  his  nephews 
and  nieces.  The  Due  de  Vendome  thereupon  travelled 
to  Brussels,  and  on  February  12th,  1896,  the  nuptials 
of  the  only  son  of  the  Duke  of  Alen9on  with  Henriette- 
Marie-Charlotte,  Princess  of  Belgium,  were  celebrated 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Ste.  Gudule. 

The  Duke  returned  to  France  with  his  wife,  and 
they  settled  in  a  suburb  of  Paris — at  Neuilly,  where  they 
built  for  themselves  a  lovely  house  in  the  rue  Borghese. 
They  have  resided  there  in  the  spring  and  autumn  of 
each  year  ever  since,  spending  the  winters  at  their  villa 
at  Cannes,  the  Chateau  St.  Michel,  and  the  summers  in 
the  Tyrol,  where  they  also  possess  a  property  which 
had  been  the  favourite  house  of  the  unfortunate  Duchess 
of  Alen9on.  The  Duchesse  de  Vendome  was  very  fond 
of  society  and  liked  to  entertain  her  friends ;  and 
she  is  the  only  princess  belonging  to  the  Orleans  family 
whom  one  meets  at  all  the  fashionable  places  in  Paris  : 
the  races,  opera,  theatres  and  restaurants,  and  also 
at  the  different  Embassies  and  the  houses  of  the 
leaders  of  Royalist  society.  She  has  a  son  and  several 
daughters,  of  whom  the  eldest  is  already  eighteen ; 
whilst  the  youngest.  Princess  Genevieve,  is  spoken  of 
by  the  French  monarchists  as  a  likely  bride  for  her 
cousin  the  Duke  of  Brabant,  the  heir  of  King  Albert 
of  Belgium.  This  contingency,  however,  is  not  very 
probable,  as  both  King  Albert  and  his  Queen  would 
prefer,  for  many  reasons,  to  have  for  their  daughter- 
in-law  an  Infanta  of  Spain,  whose  English  blood  appeals 

231 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

to  them.  Besides,  the  King  is  very  much  against 
marriages  between  first  cousins,  and  though  he  dearly 
loves  his  sister,  yet  he  would  not  care  to  have  one  of 
his  nieces  as  a  daughter-in-law. 

The  Comtesse    de    Paris    had    one    brother.   Prince 
Antoine  of  Orleans,  who,  after  the  death  of  his  mother's 
oldest  friend,  the  Duchess  of  Galliera,  took  her  title. 
The  Duchess,  having  the  right  to  dispose  of  it  accord- 
ing to  Italian  custom,  had  left  it  to  him,  together  with 
a  considerable  sum  of  money.     His  marriage  was  the 
cause   of  a   certain   amount   of  gossip,    owing   to   the 
impetuosity  of  character  displayed  by  the  lady  whom 
he  made  his  wife,  and  to  his  own  propensity  for  cards 
and    gaiety.     He    had    wedded    the    Infanta    Donna 
Eulalia  of  Spain,  the  sister  of  the  late  King  Alphonso 
XII.,   who,    having   been   brought  up   almost   entirely 
in  Paris,  where  her  mother.  Queen  Isabella,  lived  sur- 
rounded with  all  the  pomp  of  a  Royal  Court,  had  taken 
French  manners,  was  imbued  with  French  sympathies, 
and  never  felt  quite  at  her  ease  in  Madrid.    Especially 
was  this  so  after  the  advent  at  the  Royal  Palace  of 
Queen  Marie  Christine,  whose  rigidity  of  principles  did 
not  agree  with  her  own  conception  as  to  the  pleasures 
and  difficulties  of  life.     She  did  not  care  for  Prince 
Antoine,  but  thought  it  better  to  marry  him,  and  to 
be  able  to  live  where  she  liked  afterwards,  instead  of 
remaining  in  Spain,  where  she  had  to  spend  her  life 
amidst  the  thraldom  of  an  etiquette  against  which  her 
whole  soul  revolted. 

The    Infanta    persuaded    her    husband    to    take    a 
house  in  Paris,  where  for  a  certain  number  of  years 

232 


A  BID  FOR  FREEDOM 

they  contrived  to  live  together  without  quarrelling 
too  much.  Then  the  Infanta  became  gradually  more 
and  more  independent ;  she  took  to  travelling  on  her 
own  account,  visiting  Russia,  Germany,  Denmark,  and 
Italy;  the  latter  country,  however,  she  did  not  like, 
perhaps  because  when  there  she  found  herself  crushed 
under  the  personality  of  the  talented  Queen  Margherita. 

When  she  settled  down  again  in  Paris  she  opened 
the  doors  of  her  Paris  house  to  writers  and  artists  who 
would  never  have  been  allowed  to  enter  an  Infanta's 
presence  in  Madrid,  and  she  went  about  more  than 
any  other  Royal  princess  had  ever  done  in  Paris. 
She  was  fond  of  balls  and  parties ;  cared  for  riding, 
dancing,  skating,  rowing,  and  game-shooting.  In  short, 
she  was  all  that  an  Infanta  ought  not  to  be  in  the  eyes 
of  a  stiff  and  archaic  etiquette  ;  it  is  no  wonder,  indeed, 
that  at  last  she  fell  into  disgrace  with  Marie  Christine, 
and  was  at  one  moment  threatened  with  a  curtailment 
of  her  allowance.  This  unpleasant  event  might  have 
happened  to  her  had  it  not  been  that  she  captured 
the  good  graces  of  her  nephew,  the  present  King, 
who  looked  upon  her  unconventional  ways  with  more 
indulgent  eyes  than  his  mother  had  done. 

But  when  Donna  Eulalia  wrote  and  published  a 
book  in  which  her  Socialistic  leanings  and  sympathies 
came  out  too  prominently  for  the  thing  not  to  be 
noticed,  Alphonso  XIII.  was  constrained  by  his  family 
to  write  to  his  aunt  and  to  express  to  her  his  disapproval 
of  her  actions,  as  well  as  to  insist  upon  her  retracting 
the  opinions  expressed  in  the  volume,  which  had  given 
rise  to  such  a  storm  in  monarchical  circles.     The  Princess 

233 


\ 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

had  to  submit,  but  after  she  had  eaten  "  humble  pie  " 
she  was  restored  to  favour,  and  has  gone  on  amusing 
herself  in  Paris,  which  has  remained  to  this  day  her 
favourite  place  of  residence. 

A  few  years  before  the  episode  of  the  book,  the 
Infanta  sought  to  be  divorced  from  her  husband. 
This  desire  created  a  sensation,  as  such  a  thing  had 
never  before  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  Royal 
Family  of  Spain.  At  last  things  were  settled,  thanks 
partly  to  the  intervention  of  the  Comtesse  de  Paris, 
who  arranged  a  modus  vivendi  that  allowed  the 
Infanta  to  part  without  scandal  from  a  husband  she 
ought  never  to  have  been  persuaded  to  marry.  The 
Due  de  Galliera  went  to  live  with  his  sister  at  San 
Lucar  de  Barrameda,  the  splendid  domain  in  Andalusia 
which  they  had  jointly  inherited  from  their  mother, 
the  deceased  Duchess  of  Montpensier,  and  rarely 
showed  himself  in  Paris,  and  only  when  his  wife  was 
sojourning  in  Spain.  The  Infanta  Eulalia  occupies  a 
flat  on  the  Boulevard  Lannes,  which  she  calls  a  'pied 
d  ierre,  but  which  is  large  enough  for  her  to  receive 
her  numerous  friends  in  comfort.  She  still  writes 
books,  but  has  grown  more  prudent  in  the  enunciation 
of  the  opinions  which  she  professes,  and  lately  has 
become  the  most  tender  of  grandmothers,  and  dotes 
on  the  three  sturdy  boys  which  have  been  born  to 
her  son  and  daughter-in-law.  Prince  Alphonso  and 
Princess  Beatrice  of  Orleans.  She  is  still  pretty  and 
very  youthful-looking,  as  fond  of  society  as  ever, 
and  troubles  as  little  as  possible  about  all  the  un- 
pleasant   things    of    life   represented   by   dressmakers' 

234 


THE  LOVE  OF   DON  ALPHONSO 

bills,  worries  with  one's  maid,  and  quarrels  with  one's 
husband. 

Her  marriage  was  essentially  un  manage  de  raison, 
where  politics,  convenience,  questions  of  fortune  and 
of  position  had  played  the  principal  part.  .  Of  love 
there  had  never  been  a  mention,  and  no  one  would 
have  been  more  surprised  than  the  Infanta  herself 
if  one  had  hinted  at  the  possibility  of  such  a  feeling 
existing  between  her  and  her  cousin  Don  Antonio 
of  Orleans.  But  when  her  eldest  son's  fate  had  to 
be  decided,  she  found,  to  her  extreme  astonishment, 
that  he,  the  child  of  a  most  unromantic  mother,  was 
about  to  contract  an  alliance  in  which  the  romantic 
element  constituted  the  larger  part. 

Don  Alphonso  is  a  pleasant  and  amiable  young 
man  who  was  brought  up  in  England,  and  looks  more 
like  an  Englishman  than  a  man  of  his  own  race.  Perhaps 
it  was  this  last  circumstance  which  influenced  the 
Princess  Beatrice  of  Coburg,  the  youngest  daughter  of 
the  Dowager  Duchess  of  Coburg,  formerly  Duchess  of 
Edinburgh.  The  fact  remains  that  she  fell  violently 
in  love  with  him,  and  that  he  reciprocated  her  feelings. 
The  Princess  is  the  elder  by  something  like  two 
or  three  years.  She  is  very  lovely,  and  clever,  and 
was  rhentioned  as  a  possible  bride  for  the  King  of 
Spain  before  he  met  the  fair-haired  Princess  Ena  of 
Battenberg  and  forgot  the  whole  world  on  looking  into 
her  splendid  eyes.  Princess  Beatrice  had  made  quite 
a  sensation  in  London  when  her  mother  had  taken  her 
there  during  the  season,  and  wherever  she  had  been 
she   had   excited   general   admiration.     Her   birth   and 

235 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

position  were  unimpeachable ;  she  was  the  grand- 
daughter of  Queen  Victoria  and  also  of  a  late  Tsar 
of  Russia  ;  her  sisters  were  married  respectively  to 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Roumania,  to  the  Grand  Duke 
Cyril  of  Russia,  and  to  the  Prince  of  Hohenlohe- 
Langenburg. 

No  alliance  in  the  world  could  have  been  better 
for  a  younger  member  of  the  House  of  Orleans.  One 
could  therefore  suppose  that  the  first  announcement 
of  it  would  be  received  with  enthusiasm  at  the  Court 
of  Madrid,  where  the  Prince  resided,  but  unfortunately 
the  religious  question  again  cropped  up,  and  the  Queen 
Regent  declared  that  it  was  impossible  to  admit  a 
Protestant  member  into  the  Spanish  Royal  Family. 
The  Princess  Beatrice  was  therefore  asked  to  follow 
the  example  of  her  cousin,  the  young  Queen  Victoria, 
and  to  abjure  Protestantism  in  order  to  enter  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  She  refused,  declaring  that 
she  would  never  consent  to  a  step  that  would  be  entirely 
against  her  conscience.  Upon  this  King  Alphonso 
absolutely  forbade  his  cousin  to  think  of  an  alliance 
which  would  excite  public  opinion  at  Madrid  against 
the  reigning  dynasty,  and  ordered  him  to  leave  Coburg, 
where  he  had  been  staying  with  his  fiancee,  and  to 
return  immediately  to  Spain.  Neither  the  Prince  nor 
his  future  wife  accepted  this  decision,  and  as  the 
Duchess  of  Coburg  was  agreeable  to  their  taking  the 
law  into  their  own  hands,  they  were  married  at  once, 
and  the  Prince  telegraphed  the  fact  to  King  Alphonso, 
intimating  that  he  was  quite  ready  to  accept  the  con- 
sequences  of  his    disobedience.     Alphonso   XIII.    was 

236 


RESTORED  TO  FAVOUR 

not  a  tyrant,  and  the  Queen  was  very  fond  of  her  young 
cousin,  and  would  have  been  dehghtcd  to  have  her 
near  her  at  Madrid.  He  would  therefore  have  forgiven 
the  young  couple,  but  Marie  Christine  was  furious,  and 
insisted  on  her  son  punishing  the  cousin  who  had  thus 
forgotten  the  allegiance  which  he  owed  to  the  head 
of  his  House.  She  obliged  Alphonso  to  chastise  the 
rebellious  Infante  who  had  thus  openly  defied  his 
authority,  and  the  Prince  and  Princess  received  strict 
orders  to  remain  in  exile  and  never  to  dare  show  their 
faces  in  Spain  again. 

They  took  it  quite  philosophically,  perhaps  because 
they  knew  it  would  not  be  for  a  long  time,  and  settled 
in  Coburg,  where  the  Dowager  Duchess  Marie  Alexan- 
drovna  was  but  too  glad  to  have  them,  and  they  spent 
their  time  very  pleasantly,  travelling  sometimes,  and 
enjoying  short  trips  to  Paris,  which  they  both  liked, 
and  where  the  Infanta  Eulalia  always  received  them 
with  open  arms.  Two  children  were  born  to  them  in 
quick  succession,  and  then  the  war  between  Spain  and 
Morocco  broke  out,  and  the  Infante  Alphonso  wrote 
to  the  King  and  asked  to  be  allowed  to  take  the 
field  with  his  former  regiment.  The  permission  was 
granted,  and  was  followed  very  soon  by  his  reinstate- 
ment*, to  favour.  He  now  lives  in  Madrid,  where  he 
and  his  amiable  consort  have  made  themselves  general 
favourites  in  all  classes  of  society,  and  where  the 
Infanta  Eulalia  comes  to  visit  them  whenever  Paris 
begins  to  bore  her  and  she  feels  she  wants  to  breathe 
her  native  air  again  for  a  short  time. 

Beyond    the    Orleans    there    exist    still    two    other 

237 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

branches  of  the  Bourbon  family,  those  of  Naples  and 
of  Parma.  The  latter  has  entirely  settled  in  Austria, 
and  is  very  well  established.  Prince  Elias,  the  best- 
looking  and  most  intelligent  member  of  the  family, 
has  become  allied  to  the  Habsburgs  by  his  marriage 
with  the  Archduchess  Marie  Anna,  whilst  the  Princess 
Zita  has  been  united  with  the  heir  presumptive  to  the 
Austrian  monarchy.  Archduke  Charles  Francis  Joseph. 
Unfortunately,  imbecility  is  supposed  to  be  hereditary 
among  the  posterity  of  the  Duchess  Marie  Louise  of 
Parma,  the  sister  of  the  Comte  de  Chambord,  and  the 
head  of  the  family,  Prince  Henry  of  Parma,  is  confined 
in  an  asylum. 

As  for  the  Naples  Bourbons,  represented  by  the 
Count  of  Caserta,  there  is  not  much  to  say,  as  there 
has  never  been  anything  approaching  a  romantic 
marriage  amongst  them.  They  have  all  been  very 
well  brought  up  and  behave  well,  and  have  always  con- 
sulted the  code  of  etiquette  and  the  Almanack  de 
Goiha  before  taking  to  themselves  a  husband  or  a  wife. 
The  eldest  son  of  the  Count  of  Caserta  is  wedded  to  a 
princess  of  Bavaria,  and  whilst  his  parents  reside  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  at  Cannes,  he  lives  at  the 
castle  of  Nymphenburg,  near  Munich.  His  second 
brother,  Prince  Charles  of  Bourbon  Sicily,  was  the 
husband  of  the  lovely  Princess  Marie  de  las  Mercedes 
of  the  Asturias,  the  eldest  sister  of  King  Alphonso, 
and  his  marriage  with  her  gave  rise  to  a  lot  of  un- 
pleasantness, as  neither  the  Spanish  nation  nor  the 
Spanish  Government  wanted  the  heiress  to  the  throne, 
as  she  was  at  the  time,  to  marry  a  Bourbon  of  Naples, 

238 


ROYAL  HOUSE  OF  BOURBON 

that  House  being  very  unpopular  in  the  country  ever 
since  the  days  of  the  first  Queen  Christine,  the  grand- 
mother of  Alphonso  XII.  It  was  the  Regent  who, 
for  reasons  of  her  own,  had  desired  this  marriage  for 
her  daughter,  and  who  insisted  on  arranging  it.  Prince 
Charles  was  naturaHsed  in  Spain  and  received  the  title 
of  Infante.  His  wife  died  in  childbirth  three  years 
later,  but  he  kept  the  dignities  which  he  had  acquired 
through  his  union  with  her,  and  remarried  with  the 
Princess  Louise  of  France,  the  daughter  of  the  Comtesse 
de  Paris,  as  I  have  already  related,  and  brought  her  to 
Madrid,  where  they  have  resided  ever  since. 

As  for  his  sisters,  they  were  very  well  provided  for 
by  the  cleverness  of  the  Countess  of  Caserta,  who, 
though  they  were  almost  penniless,  nevertheless  con- 
trived to  secure  excellent  husbands  for  them.  The 
eldest,  Princess  Marie  Immaculata,  was  wedded  to 
Prince  John,  the  brother  of  the  King  of  Saxony  ;  the 
second.  Princess  Marie  Christine,  married  an  archduke 
of  Austria ;  and  the  third  and  youngest  one,  the 
Princess  Maria  Pia,  became  the  wife  of  Prince  Louis 
of  Braganza,  the  heir  of  the  Count  and  Countess  d'Eu. 
These  were  all  unions  without  any  political  significance, 
but  most  sensible  and  probably  happy.  They  had 
nothing  romantic  about  them,  and  have  afforded  no 
food  whatever  for  gossip  of  any  kind. 

Indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  as  things  stand  at 
present  for  any  marriage  contracted  by  a  prince  of 
the  Royal  House  of  Bourbon  to  have  any  diplomatic 
importance.  Even  that  of  the  representative  of  the 
elder  line,   the   only   son   of  the  famous   Don   Carlos, 

239 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

would  be  viewed  with  perfect  indifference  by  the 
Spanish  public.  The  popularity  of  King  Alphonso 
XIII.  has  become  so  great  that  there  is  no  longer  any 
risk  of  a  Carlist  insurrection  breaking  out  in  the 
country.  Don  Jaime  de  Bourbon,  who  lives  almost 
continually  at  Frohsdorff,  is  so  far  a  confirmed  bachelor, 
whilst  the  matrimonial  adventures  of  two  of  his  sisters 
are  not  sufficiently  interesting  to  find  a  place  here. 


240 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL   MARRIAGES 

IT  is  quite  intentionally  that  I  have  allowed  this 
chapter  dealing  with  English  Royal  marriages  to 
remain  until  the  last.  The  reason  for  this  apparent 
neglect  is  that  England,  which  in  so  many  things  shows 
examples  the  world  would  do  well  to  follow,  has  proved 
itself  particularly  wise  in  the  marriages  of  its  reign- 
ing House.  King  Edward,  who  certainly  was  one  of 
the  foremost — if  not  the  greatest — diplomats  of  his 
time,  had  realised  the  apparently  impossible  problem 
of  transforming  political  unions  into  love  marriages. 
Thanks  to  his  skill,  the  establishment  of  his  numerous 
nieces  was  conducted  on  the  basis  of  marriages  of 
affection,  and  he  succeeded  in  selecting  for  them  hus- 
bands whom  they  could  love  and  who  happened  to  be 
in  love  with  them,  feeling  very  well  that  the  influence 
which  he  wanted  them  to  gain  over  their  consorts 
would,  if  their  union  were  founded  on  mutual  affection 
be  far  more  powerful  than  it  would  otherwise  be. 

To  this  must  be  added  that  it  was  a  tradition  in 
the  Royal  House  of  England  to  marry  for  love  ever 
since  the  days  of  Queen  Victoria,  who  was  essentially 
romantic  and  of  a  most  affectionate  nature.  Her  own 
alliance  with  Prince  Albert  of  Saxe-Coburg  had  been 
Q  241 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

founded  essentially  on  the  warm  feelings  with  which 
he  had  inspired  her,  and  when  the  time  came  to  estab- 
lish her  daughters  she  insisted  on  political  reasons 
being  laid  aside,  which  fact  led  the  Royal  princesses  to 
make  marriages  less  brilliant  perhaps  than  they  could 
have  aspired  to,  but  which  offered  them  far  more 
chances  of  happiness  than  attended  the  wedded  lives  of 
so  many  daughters  of  foreign  Royal  or  Imperial  houses. 

To  begin  with  the  Princess  Victoria,  whose  union 
with  the  future  German  Crown  Prince  was  a  perfect 
idyll,  which  no  one  described  better  than  did  the  Queen 
herself  in  her  "  Journal,"  and  to  end  with  the  alliance 
contracted  by  Princess  Beatrice  with  Prince  Henry  of 
Battenberg — all  the  daughters  of  the  Queen  were  allowed 
to  choose  their  husbands,  and  never  once  did  they 
hear  any  hint  of  political  reasons  entering  into  their 
marriage  arrangements. 

When  it  came  to  the  question  of  the  establishment 
of  the  Sovereign's  grandchildren,  the  same  principle 
was  followed  ;  and  later  on,  after  the  death  of  the 
wisest  monarch  England  ever  had,  it  was  taken  up  by 
her  successor,  who  even  enlarged  upon  it,  and  almost 
made  it  a  cardinal  principle  in  his  family. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria  that 
England  saw,  for  the  first  time,  one  of  its  princesses 
marry  a  Scottish  nobleman  who  was  simply  heir  to 
a  dukedom.  When  the  engagement  of  the  Princess 
Louise  with  the  Marquis  of  Lome  was  announced,  it 
caused  a  nine  days'  wonder  all  over  the  United  King- 
dom. Some  people  blamed  the  leniency  of  the  Queen, 
who,  they  affirmed,  had  established  a  regrettable  prece- 

242 


PRINCESS  LOUISE 

dent ;  whilst  others — and  these  were  the  majority — - 
extolled  the  kindness  and  the  wisdom  of  the  Sovereign 
who,  when  the  happiness  of  her  child  came  into  question, 
put  aside  old  traditions  and  preferred  to  see  her  wedded 
to  a  gentleman  with  an  unimpeachable  reputation  and 
high  character ;  with  whose  parents,  moreover,  she 
had  herself  been  upon  terms  of  affectionate  friendship 
for  a  considerable  number  of  years. 

Nevertheless,  the  marriage  of  the  Princess  Louise 
opened  a  new  era  concerning  the  future  of  members 
of  the  Royal  Family.  It  added  considerably  to  the 
popularity  of  the  Queen  herself,  and  drew  her  even 
nearer  to  her  subjects  than  had  been  the  case  before, 
when  some  voices  had  blamed  her  for  having  allowed 
the  Princess  Helena  to  unite  herself  to  Prince  Christian 
of  Schleswig-Holstein,  who  was  considered  so  poor 
that  one  believed  it  had  been  only  through  interested 
motives  that  he  had  wooed  and  won  her — an  assertion, 
by  the  way,  which  was  as  ill-natured  as  it  was  unjust. 

After  the  wedding  of  the  Princess  Louise,  a  con- 
siderable time  passed  before  any  other  member  of  the 
Royal  Family  contemplated  matrimony,  and  it  was  only 
during  the  course  of  the  summer  of  1873  that  England 
heard  of  the  betrothal  of  the  Queen's  second  son,  the 
Duke*'  of  Edinburgh,  with  the  only  daughter  of  the 
Tsar,  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie  Alexandrovna. 

This  was  an  exceptionally  brilliant  marriage,  and 
also  one  in  which  politics  had  a  considerable  share,  as 
it  was  supposed  to  bring  about  closer  relations  between 
the  London  and  the  Petersburg  Cabinets,  which  had 
remained  more  or  less  strained  ever  since  the  Crimean 

243 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

War.  The  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  who  was  a  very  dis- 
tinguished man  indeed,  was  heir  to  the  Duchy  of 
Coburg  and  its  large  domains,  whilst  the  Grand 
Duchess  Marie  was  bringing  to  him  a  huge  fortune 
besides  her  own  amiable  self.  She  was  a  most  accom- 
plished woman  in  every  respect,  who  had  been  admir- 
ably brought  up,  and  who  was  considered  the  cleverest 
member  of  her  family. 

Queen  Victoria  made  no  secret  of  her  delight  at 
getting  such  a  daugliter-in-law,  and  took  the  keenest 
interest  in  all  the  arrangements  connected  with  the 
wedding,  which  was  solemnised  with  much  magnificence 
at  Petersburg,  and  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of 
Royalties,  foremost  among  whom  were  the  Prince 
and  Princess  of  Wales,  and  the  German  Crown  Prince 
and  Princess.  They  all  declared  themselves  enchanted 
with  the  hospitality  that  had  been  proffered  them, 
and  I  remember  how  the  Crown  Princess  on  her  return 
to  Berlin  showed  me,  with  great  pleasure,  a  splendid 
bracelet  with  which  the  Emperor  of  Russia  had  pre- 
sented her  on  the  day  of  her  departure  from  Petersburg. 

The  newly  married  pair  started  for  England  a  few 
days  after  their  marriage,  and  were  received  at  Windsor 
railway  station  by  the  Queen  in  person,  who  had  driven 
over  to  bid  her  son's  bride  welcome  in  her  new  home. 
The  Duchess  of  Edinburgh  became  a  great  favourite 
with  her  mother-in-law,  who  up  to  her  death  entertained 
the  warmest  affection  for  her,  and  liked  to  have  her 
about  her  as  much  and  as  often  as  possible.  The  two 
ladies  had  many  characteristics  in  common,  and  were 
drawn   to   each   other   at   once.     The   Grand   Duchess 

244 


DUKE  OF  GONNAUGHT  WEDS 

Marie  was  often  heard  to  say  tliat  the  only  thought 
which  had  comforted  her  at  the  time  of  her  own  mother's 
death  was  the  feehng  that,  although  she  had  lost  a 
parent,  Queen  Victoria  was  there  to  replace  her. 

Six  years  after  the  marriage  of  the  Duke  of  Edin- 
burgh, his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Connaught,  brought 
home  a  young  bride.  This  was  also  a  marriage  which 
was  only  actuated  by  love  on  both  sides.  The  Duke 
had  met  his  future  wife  at  the  wedding  of  the  latter's 
sister,  the  Princess  Marie  of  Prussia,  with  Prince  Henry 
of  the  Netherlands,  and  from  the  first  moment  that 
he  caught  sight  of  her  he  lost  his  heart  to  her,  and  at 
once  had  sought  his  mother's  agreement  to  the  offer 
which  he  intended  to  make  to  the  Princess  Louise 
Margaret.  As  he  was  the  favourite  son  of  the  Queen, 
the  latter  insisted  upon  his  nuptials  being  celebrated 
in  England,  and  they  accordingly  took  place  at  Windsor, 
where  the  King  and  Queen  of  the  Belgians  also  arrived 
for  the  occasion.  The  new  Duchess  of  Connaught  at 
once  made  herself  at  home  in  her  new  country,  and 
became  so  English  in  all  her  sentiments  that  she  some- 
times showed  herself  even  more  patriotic  in  her  feelings 
than  her  sisters-in-law,  who  used  sometimes  to  tease 
her  on  the  subject.  Wherever  she  went,  were  it  to 
India^  Ireland,  or  Canada,  she  made  many  friends  and 
won  many  admirers,  and  in  all  the  actions  of  her  life  she 
showed  herself  an  example  of  what  an  English  princess 
and  the  daughter-in-law  of  a  great  queen  should  be. 

Her  marriage  had  absolutely  no  other  motive 
than  a  deep  affection  which  she  and  the  Duke  of 
Connaught  had  conceived  for  each  other,  and  it  turned 

245 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

out  a  perfectly  happy  one,  that  proved  singularly  free 
from  the  common  misfortunes  which  so  often  come  to 
cast  their  shade  over  human  lives.  She  brought  up 
her  children  admirably,  and  never  lost  one.  The 
ducal  couple  were  always  in  accord,  and  the  greatest 
sorrow  that  ever  befell  them  was  the  serious  illness  of 
the  Duchess,  whose  recovery  after  her  terrible  opera- 
tion a  few  years  ago  was  for  several  days  despaired  of. 
Not  even  the  present  war,  with  its  attendant  horrors, 
has  been  able  to  shake  their  mutual  tenderness,  because 
the  Duchess  has  become  so  thoroughly  English  in  all 
her  sentiments  that  she  thoroughly  joined  in  the  very 
just  feelings  of  execration  which  the  English  nation, 
and  indeed  the  whole  of  the  civilised  world,  felt  for 
the  savage  methods  of  warfare  inaugurated  by  the 
troops  of  William  II. 

Three  years  after  the  wedding  of  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Connaught,  St.  George's  Chapel  at  Windsor 
was  again  the  scene  of  a  gay  festivity.  The  Queen's 
youngest  son,  Prince  Leopold,  Duke  of  Albany,  was 
united  to  the  charming  Princess  Helene  of  Waldeck 
and  Pyrmont,  sister  of  the  Queen  of  the  Nether- 
lands, who,  together  with  the  King,  came  over  to 
England  to  attend  the  ceremony.  This  marriage  was 
rudely  broken  by  death,  which  snatched  away  the 
Duke  two  years  later,  when  his  widow  retired  almost 
entirely  from  society  and  consecrated  herself  to  the 
education  of  her  two  children,  of  whom  the  younger 
had  been  born  after  his  father's  death.  As  he  was 
to  succeed  to  the  Duchy  of  Coburg  upon  the  demise  of 
his  uncle,  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  whose  only  son  had 

246 


AN   ENGLISH  PRINCESS 

predeceased  him,  his  mother  took  him  to  Germany  to 
educate  him.  He  succeeded  to  the  Duchy  in  1900,  and 
when  the  present  war  broke  out  showed  himself  singu- 
larly forgetful  of  his  English  origin.  His  sister,  the 
Princess  Alice,  has  remained  a  perfect  English  girl. 
She  had  declared  that  she  would  never  consent  to  think 
of  any  other  marriage  than  an  English  one.  Her 
determination  was  carried  out,  because  she  became, 
in  time,  the  wife  of  Prince  Alexander  of  Teck,  the 
manly  and  handsome  brother  of  Queen  Mary,  and  she 
has  lived  in  England  ever  since,  partly  at  Claremont, 
the  residence  of  her  mother,  the  widowed  Duchess  of 
Albany,  and  partly  at  Windsor,  where  the  kindness 
of  the  King  has  given  her  an  apartment  in  one  of  the 
towers  of  the  Castle. 

After  the  nuptials  of  the  Duke  of  Albany  all  the 
children  of  the  Queen  found  themselves  provided  for, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Princess  Beatrice,  whom  her 
mother  did  not  seem  to  care  to  see  leave  England  for 
a  foreign  land.  She  was  truly  the  strong  arm  of  the 
venerable  Sovereign,  whom  she  surrounded  with  the 
greatest  care  and  attention,  and  who  found  in  her 
an  excellent  helpmate  in  all  the  business  which  she 
had  to  transact.  The  Princess  was  unusually  clever, 
and  possessed  one  quality  which  is  far  better  even  than 
cleverness — she  was  tactful  and  extremely  discreet. 

No  one,  looking  at  this  young  girl  standing  so 
modestly  beside  her  mother,  would  have  imagined 
that  she  knew  more  about  the  politics  of  the  world 
than  many  a  cabinet  minister,  and  that  the  Queen 
found  in  her  a  valuable  adviser,  whom  she  could  trust 

247 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

better  than  anyone  else.  Until  the  death  of  her  mother, 
the  Princess  Beatrice  never  failed  for  one  single  day 
in  her  filial  duty  in  regard  to  her,  and  sacrificed  herself 
entirely  for  her  sake,  giving  up  all  the  pleasures  in 
which  girls  delight  generally,  and  arranging  the  whole 
tenor  of  her  existence  so  as  to  make  it  fit  in  with 
the  Queen's  requirements.  She  showed  herself  a  model 
daughter,  and,  in  time,  she  was  to  get  her  reward 
for  it. 

During  a  journey,  which  her  mother  undertook 
abroad,  in  the  course  of  which  she  stopped  for  a  few 
days  at  Darmstadt  to  see  her  grandchildren  who  were 
living  there,  the  Princess  Beatrice  happened  to  be 
thrown  into  the  company  of  Prince  Henry  of  Batten- 
berg,  the  brother  of  Prince  Alexander  of  Bulgaria. 
He  was  one  of  the  handsomest  men  of  his  generation, 
and  in  every  way  attractive.  He  inspired  the  Princess 
with  the  warmest  feelings,  which,  however,  she  did  not 
dare  to  disclose  to  the  Queen,  knowing  the  unselfishness 
of  the  latter,  and  being  convinced  that  she  would  not 
hesitate  one  moment  to  sacrifice  herself,  if  she  thought 
that  the  happiness  of  her  beloved  child  required  it. 
The  Princess  knew  that  without  her  the  existence  of 
the  aged  Sovereign  would  be  even  more  deprived  of 
joy  than  it  was  already  ;  she  would  not  be  the  means 
of  bringing  another  shadow  on  the  life  of  her  mother. 
But  the  Queen  was  far  too  perspicacious  not  to  notice 
that  something  had  occurred  to  mar  her  daughter's 
usual  serenity,  and  she  very  quickly  discovered  what 
was  troubling  her.  With  characteristic  rapidity  of 
decision  she  made  up  her   mind  that  the  affections  of 

248 


A  ROYAL  SACRIFICE 

the  Princess  Beatrice  ought  not  to  be  thwarted,  and 
set  herself  to  seek  the  means  by  which  they  could  be 
gratified.  Of  course,  it  was  relatively  easy  to  put  as 
a  condition  to  her  consent  to  the  marriage  that  the 
young  couple  were  always  to  reside  with  her  ;  but 
she  had  far  too  much  experience  of  life  not  to  know 
that  a  man  does  not  generally  care  to  be  dependent 
upon  his  mother-in-law. 

Queen  Victoria  therefore  determined  to  speak  her- 
self with  Prince  Henry,  and  to  explain  to  him  the 
situation.  She  had  no  reason  to  repent  of  her  decision, 
because  the  Prince  understood  her  at  once,  and  replied 
to  her  that  he  would  consider  it  a  special  honour  if 
he  were  permitted  to  help  the  Princess  Beatrice  in  her 
filial  mission,  but  that  he  had  never  dared  to  offer 
doing  so  for  fear  that  interested  motives  might  be 
attributed  to  him.  He  had  no  other  fortune  except 
his  good  looks,  and  felt  shy  at  the  thought  that  the 
world  might  say  mercenary  reasons  had  been  at  the 
bottom  of  his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  the  Queen 
of  England.  Victoria  reassured  him  as  to  that  point. 
During  the  few  years  that  the  union  of  this  amiable 
young  Prince  with  the  Princess  Beatrice  lasted,  no 
cloud  of  any  kind  appeared  on  the  horizon  to  trouble  it. 

I  Ynust  relate  here  an  anecdote  which,  so  far  as  I 
know,  has  never  yet  become  public  property,  and  which 
concerns  Prince  Henry  of  Battenberg.  Long  before 
he  had  any  thought  of  becoming  the  son-in-law  of  the 
Queen  he  was  serving  as  an  officer  in  the  Prussian 
regiment  of  the  Garde  du  Corps  in  Berlin,  and  was  a 
general  favourite  in  society  there.     I  also  was  at  that 

249 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

time  residing  in  the  German  capital,  and  used  to  meet 
Prince  Henry  very  often  at  the  house  of  a  mutual 
friend.  One  afternoon  the  conversation  turned  on  a 
fortune-teller  who  was  then  the  fashion,  and  to  whom 
everybody  flocked  to  know  what  the  future  held  in 
store.  We  were  a  large  party,  and  decided  to  go  and 
see  her  the  next  day,  which  we  did  more  out  of  fun 
than  anything  else. 

On  our  arrival  the  old  dame  received  us  with  great 
cordiality,  and  when  we  declared  that  we  had  no 
secrets  from  each  other,  proceeded  to  read  us  a  lesson 
as  to  what,  according  to  her  words,  was  to  happen 
to  us  individually.  When  it  came  to  the  turn  of 
Prince  Henry,  she  at  first  prophesied  any  amount 
of  prosperity  for  him,  and  a  charming  wife  who  would 
bring  all  that  his  heart  could  desire  ;  then,  after  a 
while,  she  added,  "  I  have  one  thing  more  to  tell  you. 
Whatever  you  do,  beware  of  a  blonde,  because  evil 
shall  occur  to  you  through  her."  We  all  burst  out 
laughing,  and  for  the  whole  of  the  winter  season, 
which  was  then  just  beginning,  we  teased  poor  Prince 
Henry  unmercifully  about  the  "  lovely  blonde,"  as 
we  called  her,  who  was  to  bring  evil  upon  him.  This 
stupid  joke  acquired  later  on  a  sad  significance  when 
the  Prince  died  on  board  the  cruiser  Blonde,  on  which 
his  remains  were  brought  back  to  England  for  burial. 

Queen  Victoria  loved  Prince  Henry  of  Battenberg 
as  much  as  if  he  had  been  her  own  son,  and  she  mourned 
for  him  deeply  when  an  untoward  fate  carried  him  away 
in  the  flower  of  his  age.  He  had  truly  been  a  son  to 
her,  and,  besides,  her  heart  bled  for  her  devoted  daughter, 

250 


QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  HEART 

who  had  thus  seen  crumble  into  pieces  all  the  joy  and 
happiness  of  her  life.  The  sad  event  drew  mother  and 
daughter  even  closer  together  than  they  had  been 
before,  and  the  Queen,  in  whose  service  her  son-in- 
law  had  fallen,  felt  in  a  certain  sense  guilty  before 
his  children,  and  applied  herself  to  bring  solace  to 
them  by  even  greater  tenderness.  Her  grandchildren 
never  left  her,  and  until  her  own  death  she  always 
interested  herself  in  their  doings — both  in  their  studies 
as  well  as  in  their  play  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  doubted 
that  had  she  lived  long  enough  to  see  the  Princess  Ena 
of  Battcnberg  married  to  Alphonso  XIII.,  she  would 
have  rejoiced  at  the  event  even  more,  perhaps,  than 
she  rejoiced  at  the  weddings  of  her  own  children. 

Queen  Victoria  was  a  born  match-maker,  and  though 
her  family  always  stood  more  or  less  in  awe  of  her,  yet 
it  was  to  her  that  they  instinctively  turned  whenever 
they  happened  to  be  in  love.  It  was  to  her  grand- 
mother that  the  present  Princess  Royal,  then  Princess 
Louise  of  Wales,  confided  that  she  wished  to  marry 
the  Earl  of  Fife,  and  it  was  the  Queen  who  broached 
the  subject  with  the  parents  of  the  timid  young  girl, 
who  had  never  dared  mention  it  to  them  herself. 

This  alliance  of  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Heir 
Apparent  to  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain  with  a  peer 
of  the  realm  was  also  one  of  those  events  which  gave 
rise  to  considerable  criticism,  but  which  proved  once 
more  the  sound  common  sense  of  the  great  Queen, 
who  never  consented  to  be  influenced  by  dynastic 
reasons  where  the  personal  feelings  of  her  family  were 
concerned.     She  thought  first  of  all  of  their  happiness 

251 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

and  afterwards  at  the  circumstances  attending  it,  and 
besides  she  was  too  conscious  of  the  dignity  of  her 
Crown  not  to  understand  that  if  one  of  her  grand- 
daughters married  a  mere  peer  of  the  reahn  she  did 
not  lose  her  rank  as  a  princess  of  the  United  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  that  this  rank  was 
far  superior  to  any  other  she  might  have  acquired  by 
a  marriage  with  a  foreign  prince,  even  if  he  were  heir 
to  a  crown. 

Of  all  the  weddings  of  her  children  and  relatives 
none  interested  Queen  Victoria  so  much  as  the  one 
which  her  grandson,  the  Duke  of  York,  contracted  with 
his  cousin,  the  accomplished  and  beautiful  Princess 
May  of  Teck,  the  delightful  daughter  of  a  delightful 
mother,  who  was  also  the  cherished  cousin  of  the 
British  Sovereign.  What  especially  appealed  to  the 
Queen's  mind  in  connection  with  it  was  the  fact  that 
the  Princess  May  was  an  Englishwoman,  born  and 
bred  in  England.  Victoria,  at  a  time  when  no  one 
thought  about  the  possibility  of  foreign  relations 
getting  strained  or  difficult,  expressed  herself  strongly 
as  to  the  inadvisability  of  the  consorts  of  monarchs 
belonging  either  to  another  nationality  or  to  another 
faith  than  their  husbands ;  and  when  told  that  it 
would  be  hardly  possible  for  the  King  of  England  to 
wed  one  of  his  own  subjects,  or  continually  to  inter- 
marry in  the  circle  of  his  immediate  relatives,  she 
replied  that  she  did  not  see  why  it  would  be  impossible 
for  him  to  raise  to  his  throne  a  daughter  of  the  House 
of  Percy  or  of  Graham,  considering  the  fact  that  Jane 
Seymour   and    Catherine    Howard    had    been    thought 

252 


AN   EXCELLENT  MARRIAGE 

worthy  by  that  most  haughty  of  kings,  Henry  VIII., 
to  share  his  throne  ;  and  that  what  had  been  done 
once  could  be  done  again. 

Queen  Victoria  held  the  opinion  that  an  English 
queen  would  more  easily  understand  the  needs  of  the 
English  nation  than  a  foreigner,  who  would,  first  of 
all,  have  to  get  acquainted  with  the  inner  life  of  the 
country  to  which  she  would  be  a  perfect  stranger. 
And  when  she  heard  that  her  grandson,  the  Duke  of 
Clarence,  was  desirous  of  making  the  Princess  May  his 
wife,  the  Queen  hastened  to  give  him  her  consent, 
and  at  once  wrote  to  the  Duchess  of  Teck  to  tell  her 
how  delighted  she  felt  at  the  Duke's  choice. 

It  is  a  curious  thing,  which  I  do  not  think  is  known 
to  the  public,  that  it  was  the  Empress  Marie  of  Russia 
who,  after  the  lamented  death  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence, 
suggested  to  her  sister,  the  Princess  of  Wales,  the  idea 
of  arranging  a  marriage  between  the  Princess  May  and 
the  Duke  of  York.  In  doing  so  she  had  probably  in 
mind  the  story  of  her  own  marriage,  when,  after  having 
been  engaged  to  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  Alexandro- 
vitch,  she  was  united  to  his  brother  after  his  death. 
The  experience  had  turned  out  very  well,  and  this 
fact  more  than  anything  else  encouraged  the  Prince 
and  Brincess  of  Wales  to  try  it  on  their  own  account. 
As  fate  would  have  it,  the  Duke  of  York  had  always 
been  much  attached  to  his  little  cousin,  so  that  he 
accepted  the  proposition  at  once — everyone  knows 
with  what  excellent  results. 

All  this  took  place  long  ago,  and  now  King  George 
and  Queen  Mary  can   look  forward   to   the  day  when 

253 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

their  own  children  will  in  their  turn  be  considering 
marriage.  It  would  be  unseemly  on  my  part  to 
mention  here  the  many  rumours  which,  in  Petrograd 
especially — where  everything  relating  to  the  English 
Royal  Family  is  followed  with  the  keenest  interest — 
are  going  about  concerning  the  eventual  marriages  of 
the  Princess  Mary,  and  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  The 
Russian  nation  would  dearly  like  to  see  the  Prince  ally 
himself  to  the  Romanoffs  and  become  the  son-in-law  of 
the  Tsar.  As  for  his  sister,  there  are  any  number  of 
grand  dukes — among  them  the  Grand  Duke  Boris,  who 
is  so  well  known  in  England — whom  Russian  society 
would  be  delighted  to  see  bring  home  an  English  bride. 

England  is  so  popular  in  the  realms  of  the  Tsar  that 

'Ver  ■  new  link  which  would  unite  it  to  the  Russian 

atic  1  would  be  hailed  with  intense  joy,  and  now  that 

.he    Royal    marriage    markets    of   Europe    are    closed 

''definitely  against   Germany,   one  may,   without   being 

unreasonable,  hope  that  this  desire  may  yet  come  to 

be  fulfilled. 

Another  reason  why  I  have  spoken  of  the  English 
Royal  Family  at  the  end  of  this  book  is  because,  as 
I  want  to  point  out,  that  among  all  the  European 
dynasties,  the  one  which  sits  to-day  on  the  throne 
of  Great  Britain  has  entered  more  than  any  other 
into  its  national  needs,  and  that  in  its  marriages, 
as  well  as  in  everything  else,  it  has  constantly  kept 
in  touch  with  the  personal  feelings  of  the  nation 
as  well  as  of  those  of  its  princes  and  princesses.  It 
has  avoided  the  mistake  of  thinking  that  a  king's 
marriage  can  have  any  influence  on  the  politics  of  his 

254 


JUST  MEN  AND  WOMEN 

country  when  it  is  one  where  affection  plays  the 
greater  part.  It  has  understood  that  members  of  a 
Royal  House  are  men  and  women  like  other  people, 
and  that  it  is  cruel  to  expect  them  to  subordinate  their 
hearts  to  the  exigencies  of  certain  political  situations, 
which  may  change  at  any  moment  owing  to  unforeseen 
circumstances.  In  such  cases  love  alone  is  capable  of 
holding  together  two  people  whom  the  force  of  educa- 
tion, former  customs,  and  former  opinions  would  other- 
wise keep  asunder,  to  the  misfortune  of  themselves 
and  of  others. 

Until  Queen  Victoria  had  broken  with  old  traditions 
and  foolish  prejudices,  the  fate  of  princes — and  especi- 
ally of  princesses — of  Royal  Houses  was  anything  but 
pleasant.     Princesses  sometimes  had  perforce  t.    su' 
mit  to  being  married  to  men  whom  they  had    lev 
seen,  and  sometimes  to  those  whom  they  could  neitht 
love  nor  respect.    Marriages  such  as  that  of  the  Princes. 
Clotilde  of  Savoy   with  the  cousin  of   Napoleon  III. 
were  bound  to  turn  out  badly  ;     they  were  no  more 
than  sacrifices  to  the  necessities  of  the  moment,  against 
which  the  whole  soul,  as  well  as  the  nobility  of  nature 
which  made  Queen  Victoria  such  an  exceptional  woman, 
naturally  rose  in  indignation.     She  was  always  a  queen 
in  all  her  actions,  as  well  as  in  all  the  decisions  which 
she  had  to  take  ;    but  this  fact,  of  which  she  was  fully 
conscious,    only    made    her    more    determined    not    to 
take  advantage  of  the  power  which  was  hers,  and  she 
never  made  her  descendants  unhappy  by  forcing  them 
into  loveless  marriages. 

But  it  must  also  be  added  that  when  the  alliance 

255 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

of  one  of  her  grandchildren  did  not  turn  out  as 
successfully  as  she  would  have  wished,  she  insisted 
on  the  unhappy  princess  holding  to  her  part  of 
the  bargain,  and  would  not  hear  of  either  divorce 
or  separation.  When  the  Princess  Louise  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein,  the  eldest  child  of  Princess  Christian, 
found  her  life  with  Prince  Aribert  of  Anhalt, 
to  whom  she  was  wedded,  so  unbearable  that  it 
even  became  for  her  a  question  of  dignity  not  to  sub- 
mit to  it  any  longer,  it  was  most  difficult  to  bring  the 
Queen  to  look  upon  the  question  in  the  same  light, 
and  it  was  only  with  great  repugnance  that  she  at  last 
sanctioned  the  divorce  proceedings  which  the  young 
Princess  found  herself  compelled  to  take.  And  when 
the  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse  and  his  consort  implored  her 
to  allow  them  to  part,  she  would  absolutely  not  hear 
of  it,  and  expressed  herself  so  strongly  on  the  subject 
that  it  was  only  after  her  death  that  the  divorce  to 
which  she  objected  so  strenuously  took  place  at  last. 

I  think  that  what  I  have  written  here  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  convey  to  the  reader  my  opinion  that  of  all 
Royal  Houses  in  Europe  the  dynasty  which  occupies 
the  throne  of  England  has  made  the  wisest  marriages, 
and  altogether  has  given  the  best  examples  to  its  sub- 
jects. It  is  perhaps  on  that  account  that  the  feelings 
of  loyalty  which  the  English  people  possess  always 
find  strongest  expression  in  moments  of  great  national 
crisis.  The  King  and  the  Royal  Family  are  respected 
— which  is  not  always  the  case  in  other  countries. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  marriages  of  Royal 
personages    will    once    more    acquire    the    importance 

256 


FUTURE  ALLIANCES 

which  they  had  lost  during  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years. 
Sovereigns  and  their  relatives  will  need  to  be  much 
more  careful  in  their  alliances,  and  the  spirit  of  nation- 
alism which  has  lately  come  so  much  to  the  front  will 
also  invade  Royal  Houses,  the  members  of  which  will 
become  more  and  more  chary  at  the  thought  of  leaving 
their  own  country. 

This  will,  of  course,  limit  the  circle  and  the  sphere  in 
which  it  will  be  possible  for  them  to  find  husbands  and 
wives,  and  the  most  likely  result  will  be  that  marriages 
between  Royal  personages  and  those  of  lesser  rank 
will  become  more  usual  than  has  been  the  case  before. 
At  least,  they  will  not  be  looked  upon  with  the  dis- 
approval and  the  astonishment  which  they  excited 
in  former  times.  The  example  of  Queen  Victoria, 
who  arranged  the  wedding  of  her  own  daughter  with 
a  marquis,  and  of  the  Princess  Frederica  of  Hanover 
with  a  baron,  will  always  prove  that  one  of  the  most 
autocratic  sovereigns  in  the  world  admitted  this  possi- 
bility. 

It  is  probable  that  the  democratic  element  will  also 
invade  the  homes  of  kings,  an  evolution  which  is 
likely  to  be  to  the  advantage  of  their  subjects,  because 
the  introduction  of  new  and  healthy  elements  amid 
the  narrow  circle  in  which  Royalty  has  moved  until 
this  day  cannot  fail  to  do  it  some  good  by  bringing 
it  nearer  to  the  rest  of  humanity.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  marriages  of  heirs,  apparent  or  presumptive,  will 
become  a  far  more  serious  affair  than  it  was  before, 
as  of  necessity  it  will  involve  so  many  grave  interests, 
and  so  many  complications  unknown  before  the  present 
R  257 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

war,  and  the  changes  which  it  is  bound  to  bring  about 
in  the  whole  of  Europe. 

If  we  consider  that  France  is  a  repubHc,  and  that 
Italy  is  far  too  Catholic  a  country — in  spite  of  the 
excommunication  which  the  Holy  See  has  launched  at 
the  head  of  the  Savoy  dynasty — to  admit  mixed  mar- 
riages, we  find  that  only  Denmark,  Sweden  and  Norway 
can  furnish  princesses  with  whom  English  and  Russian 
princes  can  be  united.  Holland  does  not  come  into 
account  because  it  is  only  a  husband  to  a  reigning 
queen  who  will  be  required  there  in  the  next  genera- 
tion. This  leads  me  to  repeat  that  in  all  human  pro- 
bability the  House  of  Romanoff  is  bound  to  become 
united  to  that  of  Saxe-Coburg.  One  feels  that  this  will 
be  so  in  Russia,  where  the  nation  instinctively  turns 
towards  England,  and  looks  up  to  it  to  help  it  to  enter 
into  a  new  road,  leading  towards  renewed  prosperity. 
And  the  fact  that  the  German  elements,  which  at  one 
time  were  so  powerful  at  the  Russian  Court,  will  never 
more  be  able  to  assert  themselves,  will  help  the  Russian 
nation  to  realise  that  its  best  chances  for  the  future 
lie  in  a  closer  alliance  with  England.  Family  ties  binding 
together  the  dynasties  that  rule  over  these  two  countries 
would  consolidate  the  nations  for  their  general  welfare 
and  strengthen  them  in  their  common  progress. 


So  far  as  the  rest  of  this  book  is  concerned, 
I  have  tried  to  interest  my  readers  by  stories  and 
anecdotes  relating  to  the  family  alliances  of  all  the 
great    Royal   dynasties  of   Europe.     I  have   told  the 

258 


COMING  CHANGES 

circumstances  which  have  accompanied  the  respective 
marriages  of  well-known  royalties,  and  also  discussed 
the  chances  of  future  unions  they  might  find  them- 
selves obliged  to  contract — stories  which,  in  our  demo- 
cratic times,  may  still  be  found  amusing  by  those 
who  are  interested  in  the  sayings  and  doings  of 
Royalty.  Such  readers  will  discover  many  subjects 
of  discussion  in  these  stories,  which  I  have  related 
to  the  best  of  my  memory.  Perhaps,  also,  they  will 
wonder  at  the  facts  disclosed,  and  ask  how  it  is  possi- 
ble that  Sovereigns  can  have  the  same  feelings  as 
simple  mortals,  and  can  be  subjected  to  the  same 
miseries,  the  same  deceptions,  and  the  same  impres- 
sions of  sorrow  and  of  joy. 

Whoever  may  read  these  pages  cannot  but  realise 
the  truth  of  the  beautiful  words  of  the  late  Empress 
Frederick,  the  Princess  Royal  of  England,  "  Broken 
hearts  can  be  found  in  palaces  just  as  well  as  in  hovels." 
Love  and  death  are  the  two  forces  which  no  one  can 
escape,  and  which  every  human  being,  be  he  rich  or 
poor,  high  or  low,  must  experience. 

Until  the  present,  kings  were  popularly  supposed 
to  be  different  from  the  rest  of  humanity,  and  not 
to  suffer  or  to  feel  as  others  did.  They  were  thought 
superior  in  everything,  but  were  condemned  to  submit 
to  certain  rules  which  disposed  of  their  hearts  as  well 
as  of  their  bodies,  and  by  always  being  obliged  to 
dwell  in  an  atmosphere  of  pomp  and  majesty,  were 
forced  to  stifle  in  their  breasts  all  the  feelings  of  love 
or  of  hate  which  they  would  have  given  much  to  be 
able  to  express.     At  present  it  is  probable  that  things 

259 


ROYAL  MARRIAGE  MARKET  OF  EUROPE 

will  change — they  have  altered  already ;  and  for  the 
future,  kings,  though  they  may  not  be  allowed  to  wed 
shepherdesses,  will  nevertheless  be  permitted  to  choose 
for  themselves,  where  formerly  their  wives  were  chosen 
for  them  by  others.  Politics,  of  course,  will  still  have 
something  to  do  with  the  marriages  of  the  rulers  of 
the  world,  but  these  politics  will  take  into  consider- 
ation the  interests  of  nations,  not  those  of  dynasties 
only. 

In  the  meanwhile,  it  has  seemed  to  me  not  to  be 
without  interest  to  present,  as  I  have  done,  the  story 
of  how  the  existing  Royal  marriages  in  Europe  have  been 
contracted,  and  the  diplomacy  which  in  some  cases 
lurked  behind  them ;  and  also  to  examine  the  various 
possibilities  as  to  the  name  and  personaHty  of  the 
future  brides  of  future  Sovereigns.  In  doing  so  I 
have  probably  made  many  mistakes  and  more  than 
one  blunder.  My  excuse  consists  in  the  fact  that  1 
have  not  been  trying  to  write  an  historical  book,  but 
simply  a  volume  destined  to  provide  some  amusement 
to  people  having  an  hour  to  idle  away. 


26c 


INDEX 


Adelaide    of    Hohenlohc-Langcn- 

burg,  Princess,  30 
Adrianople,  the  fall  of,  133 
Albany,   Duke   of.     {See   Leopold, 

Prince) 
Albert,  King  of  the  Belgians,  95  ; 

happy  married  life  of,  96  ;    his 

children,  101 
,  King  of  Saxony,  186-7 

of  Saxe-Coburg,  Prince,  241 

Edward,     Prince    of    Wales, 

marriage   of,    161    (see   also    Ed- 
ward VII.,  King) 

Alenfon,  the  Duke  of,  229 
Alexander  III.,  Tsar,  and  the 
French  Revolution,  172  ;  and  the 
German  peril,  171  ;  death  of,  58  ; 
marries  Princess  Dagmar  of  Den- 
mark, 50,  53,  164 
,  King  of  Servia,  114  ;  assas- 
sination of,  115 

of  Bulgaria,  Prince,  248 

of  Servia,  Prince,  63 

of  Teck,  Prince,  his  marriage. 


247 


of  .the    Netherlands,   Prince, 

72        • 

Alexandra  of  Cumberland,  Princess, 
marriage  of,  47 

of   Denmark,   Princess,  mar- 
riage of,  161 


— ,  Princess,  marries  Prince  Au- 
gustus William,  38 
— ,  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and 


Alexandrine,  Queen  of  Denmark, 
176,  177  ;  marriage  of,  176 

Alexis,  the  Grand  Duke  (son  of 
Nicholas  II.),  59,  64,  65 

Alice  of  Bourbon  Parma,  Arch- 
duchess, 179 

,  Princess  (daughter  of  Prince 

Leopold),  247  ;  marries  Prince 
Alexander  of  Teck,  247 

Alix  of  Hesse,  Princess  (afterwards 
Tsarina),  37  ;  betrothal  of,  58  ; 
happy  home  life  of,  58-9  ;  her 
son,  59,  64,  65  ;   marriage  of,  58 

Alphonso  XII.,  King  of  Spain,  and 
the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  140; 
death  of,  143  ;  his  two  marriages, 
139,  142 

XIII.,   King   of   Spain,   226 ; 

and  the  marriage  of  Princess 
Beatrice  of  Coburg,  236  ;  birth  of, 
143  ;  marriage  of,  21,  153  ;  meets 
Princess  Ena  of  Battenberg,  149  ; 
popularity  of,  240  ;  reproves  the 
Infanta  Eulalia,  233  ;  visits  for- 
eign Courts,  146 

of  Bavaria,  Prince,  230 

-,    Prince     (son     of     the     In- 


Ircland,  54,  55,  122 


fanta  Eulalia),  234  ;  exiled  from 
Spain,  237  ;  marriage  of,  235  ; 
reinstated  in  Royal  favour,  237 

Am^lie  of  Orleans.  {See  Am61ie, 
Queen) 

,  Queen  of  Portugal,  226  ;  be- 
trothal of,  220  ;  exiled  to  Eng- 
land, 226  ;  her  sad  life,  154  ;  wed- 
ding of,  153,  220 


261 


INDEX 


American  War,  the,  Spain  and,  144 
Anastasia   of  Mecklenburg,    Grand 
Duchess  of,  35-6,  176 

of  Montenegro,  Princess,  her 

two  marriages,  120 

Andrew,  the  Grand  Duke,  67-8 

Anna,  Princess,  marriage  of,  120 

Antoine  of  Orleans,  Prince,  marries 
the  Infanta  Eulalia,  232 

Aosta,  Duke  of,  222-3 

,  Duchess  of  (H616ne  of  France), 

224 

Aribert  of  Anhalt,  Prince,  divorced 
by  liis  wife,  256 

Augusta,  Empress  (wife  of  WilUam 
I.),  27,  29 

"Victoria,  Empress  (wife  of  Wil- 
liam II.),  and  Bismarck,  31-2 ;  and 
her  family,  32,  33  ;  betrothal  of, 
30 ;  her  tact,  32 ;  marriage  of,  31 

Victoria,     Princess    (wife    of 

Dom  Manuel),  156  et  seq. 

Augustus  William,  Prince,  38 
Aumale,  the  Due  d',  169,  219,  220 
Austria,  Emperor  of.     (See  Francis 

Joseph,  Emperor) 
,  Empress  of.     (See  Elisabeth, 

Princess) 

,  the  duplicity  of,  113 

Austrian  Imperial  House,  the,  public 

and  private  scandals  in,  17-18 

B 

Baden,  the  Grand  Duke  of,  93,  202 
Balkan  War,  the,  127, 133 
Balkans,  the,  Austria  and,  113 
Bartoll,     Madame     von,     divorces 

Duke  Louis,  195 
Bassewitz,  Countess  Ina  von,  40 
Bavaria,  King  Louis  II.  of,  5 
Bavarian  Royal  Family,  the  alli- 
ances of,  196 
Beatrice  of  Coburg,  Princess,  mar- 
riage of,  236  ;  refuses  to  change 
her  faith,  236 


Beatrice,     Princess    (daughter    of 

Queen  Victoria),  248 ;  marriage  of, 

249  (see  also  Henry  of  Battenberg, 

Princess) 
Beauvoir,   the   Marquis   de,  230 
Belgian  refugees  welcomed  by  the 

Dutch,  87 
Belgians,  the   King  of    the,      (See 

Albert,  King) 
,  the  Queen  of  the.     (See  Elisa- 
beth, Queen) 
Belgium  and  Luxemburg,  88  et  seq. 

,  Princess  Stephanie  of,  4,  22-3 

Bentheim,  Prince  Alexis  de,  74 
Bernadotte,  J.  B.,  198  ;     becomes 

King  of  Sweden,  198 
Bernard  of  Saxe-Meiningen,  Prince, 

marriage  of,  29 
Bismarck,  Prince,  29  et  seq.,  71,  75  ; 

and  King  Christian  of  Denmark, 

174 
Blanc,  M.,  creator  of  Monte  Carlo, 

136 

,  Mademoiselle,  136 

Bonaparte,  Joseph,  his  wife,  199 

,  Prince   Roland,   136 

,  Prince    Victor    Napoleon,    a 

refugee    in    England,    100  ;    his 

marriage,  99  ; 

,  Princess  Marie,  136-7 

-,  Princess  Roland,  136 


Boris,  the  Grand  Duke,  67 
Bourbon-Orleans  dynasty,  the,  217 

et  seq. 
Brabant,  the  Duke  of  (heir  of  King 

Albert  of  Belgium),  219  et  seq.,  231 
Braganza,  Duke  of,  marriage,  220 
Brunswick,  the  Duchess  of.     (See 

Victoria  Louise,  Princess) 

,  the  Duchy  of,  41 

,  the    Duke    of.     (See    Ernest 

Augustus,  Prince) 
Bucharest,  the  Treaty  of,  133 
Bulgaria,    Greece   and    Roumania, 

121  etseq 


262 


INDEX 


Canovas  del  Castillo,  141 

Carlos,  King  of  Portugal,  assas- 
sination of,  154,  226  ;  marriage 
of,  153 

Carol,  Prince,  60 

Carola,  Queen,  185,  186 

Caserta,  the  Count  and  Countess  of, 
228,  238 

Cavour,  Count,  103-4 

Cecile,  Duchess  of  Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin  (now  Crown  Princess), 
34  et  seq. ;  marriage  of,  36  ;  popu- 
larity of,  36,  37 

Chambord,  the  Comte  de,  218 

,  the  Comtesse  de,  180 

Charette,  Baron  de,  220 

Charles,  King  of  Sweden  and  Nor- 
way, 165 

XIV.,   King  of   Sweden,  199 

(see  also  Bernadotte) 

XV.,    King    of    Sweden,    his 

marriage,  200 

Edward,     Duke     of     Saxe- 


Coburg,  247 

—  Francis     Joseph,    Archduke, 
10  ;   marriage  of,  12-13,  238 

—  Louis,  Archduke,  8 


—  Stephen,  Archduke,  22 

—  of    Bourbon    Sicily,    Prince, 


226,  238-9 
—  of  Sweden,  Prince,  205 


Charlotte  of  Meiningen,  Princess,  46 

,  Princess  (daughter  of  Em- 
press Frederick),  marriage  of, 
29  *' 

Chartres,  the  Due  and  Duchesse  de, 
168,  226 

Chotek,  Countess  Sophy,  7  et  seq.  ; 
marries  Archduke  Francis  Ferdi- 
nand, 7,  21 

Christian  IX.,  King  of  Denmark,  159; 
death  of,  177  ;  visits  Berlin,  174 

Christian   X.,   King  of    Denmark, 


his  efforts  in  the  cause  of  peace, 
175 

—  of  Schlcswig-Holstcln,  Prince, 
weds  a  daughter  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria, 243 

—  of  Schleswig-Holstein-Sonder- 


burg-Glucksburg,  Prince,  recog- 
nised as  heir  to  Danish  crown,  160 

Cistcrna,  the  Princess  Pozzo  Delia, 
103 

Clarence,  the  Duke  of,  and  Princess 
H616nc,  222  ;  death  of,  253 

Qary,  Mile.  Eugdnie  D6sir6e,  199 

Clementine,  Princess,  a  refugee  in 
England,  100  |  death  of,  130  ;  her 
children,  100  ;  marries  Prince 
Victor  Napoleon,  99 

Clotildc  of  Savoy,  Princess,  99 

Qovis  of  Hohenlohe-Schillings- 
furst.  Prince,  30 

Coburg,  Duchess  of  (formerly 
Duchess  of  Edinburgli),  208, 
236 

Duke    of.      (See    Edinburgli, 

Duke  of) 

Connaught,  the  Duke  of,  208 ; 
marries  Princess  Louise  Margaret, 
245 

,  Margaret  of.   Princess,    208, 

209 

,  Patricia  of.  Princess,  146 

Constantine,  King,  136 

Constantinovitcb,  Miss,  119 

Croy,  Isabella  of.  Princess,  marries 
the  Archduke  Frederick,  19 

,  the  Duke  of,  19 

Cumberland,  the  Duchess  of.  (See 
Thyra  of  Denmark) 

,  the  Duke  of,  and  the  Han- 
overian succession,  41-3  ;  mar- 
ries Princess  Thyra  of  Denmark, 
168 

Cyril,  the  Grand  Duke,  65  ;  miracu- 
lous escape  in  the  Japanese  War, 
66  ;  his  wife,  65-6,  67 


363 


INDEX 


Dagmar  of  Denmark,  Princess,  50 

et  seq,  122,  163,  164,  165 
Democracy  and  Royalty,  257 
Denmark,  and  its  alliances,  159  et  seq. 

,  the  Crown  Prince  of,  165 

D6sir6e,     Queen     of     Sweden,     an 

amusing  anecdote  of,  199  ;  death 

of,  200  {see  also  Clary,  Eugenie 

D6sir6e) 

Dobrzensky,    Countess    Elisabeth, 

marriage  of,  228 
Dorothea,  Archduchess,  11 
Draga,  Queen,  assassination  of,  115 
D'Uzds,  the,  220 

E 

Edinburgh,  the  Duke  of,  243  ;  his 
marriage,  72,  243  ;  offered  the 
Crown  of  Greece,  162  (see  also 
Coburg,  Duke  of) 

Edward  VII.,  King  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  54,  55 ;  and  the 
Triple  Entente,  146,  173 ;  and 
the  marriage  of  the  King  of 
Spain,  149  ;  as  diplomat,  241  ; 
sanctions  marriage  of  Princess 
Margaret,  208 

Eitel  Fritz,  Prince,  39 

Elbe,  wreck  of,  the,  85 

Eleonore,  Archduchess,  morganatic 
marriage  of,  22 

of  Reuss  Kostritz,   Princess, 

131  ;  her  activities  in  the  Man- 
churian  War,  131  ;  marries  Fer- 
dinand of  Bulgaria,  132 

EUas,  Prince  of  Parma,  21,  238 
Elisabeth,  Archduchess  (widow  of 

Charles  Ferdinand),  140 
,    Archduchess   (daughter    of 

Princess  Stephanie),  marriage  of, 

22,  25 
of  Austria,  Empress,  229 

of  Roumania,  Princess,  127, 


129 


Elisabeth,  Princess  (granddaughter 
of  Emperor  Francis  Joseph), 
17-18 

,  Princess,  (wife  of  the  Em- 
peror Francis  Joseph),  1  ;  be- 
trothal of,  2  ;  character  of,  3  ; 
unhappy  married  life  of,  3  el  seq. 

,  Queen  of  the  Belgians,  and 

the  Great  War,  96  ;  her  children, 
101  ;  her  marriage,  95  ;  noble 
nature  of,  95 

Elizabeth  of  Russia,  Grand  Duchess, 
210 

Elston,  Count  Soumarokofi,  70 

Emma  of  Waldcck  and  Pyrmont, 
Princess,  betrothal  of,  74 ;  as 
Regent,  78  ;  birth  of  a  daughter, 
77  ;   marriage  of,  75 

Emmanuel,  King  of  Italy,  222 

Ena  of  Battenberg,  Princess,  149  ; 
betrothal  of,  151  ;  her  conversion 
to  the  Catholic  faith,  150  ;  her 
family,  152  ;  marries  the  King  of 
Spain,  21  (see  also  Victoria 
Eugdnie  of  Spain) 

English  Royal  Marriages,  241  et 
seq. 

Entente  Cordiale,  the,  148 

Ernest  Augustus,  Prince,  42  ;  wed- 
ding of,  43 

Esmarch,  Professor,  marries  Prin- 
cess Henriette,  195 

Esterhazy,  Prince,  20 

Eu,  the  Comte  d',  227 

Eugdne  of  Beauharnais,  Prince,  200 

of  Sweden,  Prince,  205 

Eug6nie,  Empress  (widow  of 
Napoleon  III.).  150-1  ;  and  the 
German  invasion  of  France,  100  ; 
her  wonderful  vitality,  100  ;  wel- 
comes Prince  Victor  Napoleon, 
100 
-,  Princess,  20 


Eulalia  of  Spain,  the  Infanta,  her 
Socialistic  tendencies,  233  ;  niar- 


264 


INDEX 


ries  Prince  Antoinc  of  Orleans, 
232  ;  reproved  by  King  Alphonso 
XIII.,  233  ;  separation  from  her 
husband,  234  ;  the  unconvention- 
ality  of,  233 


Ferdinand,  King  of  Bulgaria,  129  ; 
his  first  consort,  129  ;  second  mar- 
riage of,  132  ;  the  ambitions  of, 
126,  134 

of  Tuscany,  Archduke,  179  ; 

and  his  daughter,  190-1  ;  and  the 
Jesuits,  181  et  seq. 

Ferronays,  the  Comtesse  Fernand  de 
la,  219 

Fife,  the  Earl  of,  marries  Princess 
Louise  of  Wales,  251 

Francis  Ferdinand,  Archduke,  6  ; 
assassination  of,  6,  7,  9  ;  his  mor- 
ganatic marriage,  7,  9 

Joseph,  Emperor  of  Aus- 
tria, 1  ;  and  Marie  Th^rSse,  8  ;  as 
father,  6  ;  engagement  to  Prin- 
cess Elisabeth,  2  ;  marriage  of  his 
only  son,  4 

Salvator,  Archduke,  marriage 


of,  6 

Franco-Prussian  War  of  1870,  the, 
54 

Franco-Russian  alliance,  a,  Alex- 
ander III.  and,  171 

Frederica  of  Hanover,  Princess,  49, 
151 

Frederick  III.,  Emperor,  27  ;  mar- 
riage (jf,  27,  242 

VIII.,     King    of    Denmark, 

death  of,  177 

,  Archduke,  marriage  of,  19 

August  of  Saxony,  Prince,  be- 


comes King  of  Saxony,  187  ;  mar- 
riage of,  184 

Charles    of    Prussia,    Prince, 

73  ;  dowries  of  his  daughters,  45 


Frederick  Francis  of  Mecklenburg 
Schwerin,  Grand  Duke,  176 

,      German      Crown      Prince 

33 ;  and  the  marriage  of  his 
sister,  43 ;  meets  the  Duchess 
Cecile,  34 

of  Schleswig-Holstcin-Sonder- 


burg-Augustenburg,  Duke,  30 
William  IV.,  King,  27 


French  Pretender,  the,  unhappy 
marriage  of,  11 

Fricdrich  August  III.  (See  Freder- 
ick August  of  Saxony) 


Gabrielle,   Princess,  wedding  of, 

95,  196 
GaUiera,  the  Duchess  of,  232 
Genevieve,  Princess,  231 
Genoa,  the  Duchess  of,   104  ;  her 

second  marriage,  105 
Georg,  King  of  Saxony,  180,  186, 

187,  191 
George  I.,  King  of  Greece,  121, 162  ; 

assassination  of,  127,  165  ;  mar- 
riage of,  165 
v..    King    of    Great    Britain 

and  Ireland,  his  marriage,  252-3 

(see  also  York,  Duke  of) 
,    Grand    Duke,     engagement 


of,  55 
— ,   of   Bavaria,   Prince,  divorce 

of,  18,  21-2 

—  of  Leuchtenberg,  Duke,  120 
— ,  Prince,  marries  Princess  Marie 


Bonaparte,  137 

Victor  of  Waldeck  and  Pyr- 


mont.  Prince,  74 
Germany  and  the  Entente  Cordiale^ 

148 
Gisela,  Archduchess  of  Bavaria,  18, 

21 
Greece,  King  George  of,  121,  162 

et  seq. 


265 


INDEX 


Greece,    Roumania    and    Bulgaria; 

121  et  seq. 
,  the    Queen    of    (see    Sophy, 

Princess) 

,  the  revolution  in,  161 

Guise,  the  Due  de,  226 

Gustave  V.,  King  of  Sweden,  202  ; 

and    the    Princess    Marie,    211  ; 

marriage  of,  203 
Adolphus,  Prince,  208  ;  mar- 


riage of,  209 


H 


Habsburg,  the  House  of,  1  et  seq. 

Hare,  Mr.  Augustus,  208 

Helena,  Princess  (daughter  of  Queen 
Victoria),  marriage  of,  243 

Hdl6ne  of  France,  108 ;  and  the 
Duke  of  Clarence,  222  ;  engage- 
ment of,  222  ;  married  at  King- 
ston-on-Thames, 223  (see  also 
Aosta,  Duchess  of) 

of  Waldeck-Pyrmont,  Prin- 
cess, 246 

,  Princess  in  Bavaria,  1 

,  Princess   (daughter   of   King 


Peter  of  Servia),  113,  115  ;  her 
marriage,  117 

—  of  Montenegro,  Princess,  108  ; 
and  the  Messina  earthquake,  112  ; 
happy  wedded  life  of,  112  ;  her 
conversion.  111  ;  meets  Victor 
Emmanuel  HI.,  108 

—  of  Orleans,  Princess,  56 

—  of  Saxe-Altenburg,  Princess,  47 
-,  Princess  (daughter  of  Grand 


Duke  Vladimir),  135 
Henriette     of     Schleswig-Holstein, 

Princess,  194 
Marie-Charlotte   of    Belgium, 

Princess,     231     (see    also     Ven- 

dOme,  Duchesse  de) 
Henry  of  Battenbcrg,  Prince,  242  ; 

an  anecdote  of,  249-50  ;  death  of, 


250  ;  his  marriage,  249 ;  Queen 
Victoria's  love  for,  250-1 
Henry  of  Battenberg,  Princess,  150, 
151,  152,  242  (see  also  Beatrice, 
Princess) 

of  Bavaria,  Prince,  91 

of     Mecklenburg  -  Schwerin, 

Grand  Duke,  82 

of  Parma,  Prince,  238 


Henry  of  the  Netherlands,  Prince, 
73  ;  death  of,  75-6  ;  heroic  be- 
haviour at  the  wreck  of  the  Elbe, 
85  ;  marriage  of,  73 

Hesse,  the  Grand  Duke  of,  57,  197  ; 
his  divorce,  256 

Hilda  of  Nassau,  Princess,  88,  204 

Hohenberg,  Princess  of  (see 
Chotek,  Countess) 

Hohenfelsen,  Countess  of,  214 

Hohenlohe-SchilUngsfiirst,  Prince 
of,  21 

,  Prince  Clovis  of,  30 

HohenzoUerns,  the,  27  et  seq. 

Holland,  Belgian  refugees  in,  87  ; 
Bismarck's  ambitions  concerning, 
71-2  ;  the  neutrality  of,  in  the 
Great  War,  86,  87 

Humbert,  King  of  Italy,  marriage 
of,  103,  105 


Ingeborg,     Prince    and    Princess 

Charles,  65,  205 
Ingrid,  Princess,  65 
Ionian  Islands,  the,  retrocession  of, 

162 
Irene,  Princess,  marriage  of,  70 
Irredentist  party  in  Italy,  the,  106 
Isabella,  Archduchess,  activities  of, 

18  ;  divorce  of,  18,  21 

of  Croy,  Princess,  19-20 

,    Princess,    abolishes    slavery, 

227  ;  exile  of,  227  ;  marries  the 

Due  de  Guise,  226 
,  Queen  of  Spain,  139  et  seq. 


266 


INDEX 


Italy  and  Servia,  103  et  seq.  ;  and 
the  Triple  Alliance,  112 ;  her 
attitude  in  the  Great  War,  114, 
134 

,  King  Humbert  of,  103,  104 

,  Queen  Marghcrita  of,  101 


Jaime  de  Bourbon,  Don,  240 

Jametel,  Comte  de,  46 

Jesuits,  the,  7,  181,  182,  185,  188, 
190,  191 

Joachim,  Prince,  39 

John  of  Russia,  Prince,  116-17  ; 
marries  Princess  H616ne,  117 

,  Prince   (brother   of   King   of 

Saxony),  marriage  of,  239 

Joseph  of  Battenberg,  Prince,  120 

Josephine  of  Leuchtenberg,  Prin- 
cess, 200 

Juhana,  Princess,  84,  85,  86 

Jutta  of  Mecklenburg,  Princess,  47, 
118 

K 

Katkoff,  Michael,  171 
Kingston-on-Thames,  223 
Kloss,  Herr  von,  22 


La  Rochefoucaulds,  the,  220 
Leopold,  of  Bavaria,  Prince,  196 

,  of  Brabant,  Duke,  101 

^f  HohenzoUern,  Prince,  156 

,  King  of  the  Belgians,  death 

of,  99  ;  his  morganatic  marriage, 
98  ;  quarrels  with  his  family,  23, 
96,  99  ;  selfishness  of,  97-9 

Prince,    Duke     of    Albany, 


marriage  of,  246  ;  death  of,  246 
Leuchtenberg,  Duke  George  of,  120 
Lidencrone,  Mme.  de  Hegermann, 

199 


Lonyay,  Count  Elmer,  22,  23,  97 
Lome,    Marquis    of,    marriage    of, 

242 
Louis  II.,  King  of  Bavaria,  5 

in  Bavaria,  Duke,  195 

of    Braganza,    his    marriage 

228,  239 

Louise,  Duchess,  1 

of  Coburg,  Princess,  97 

of  Nassau,  Princess,  200 

of  Orleans,  Princess,  marriage 

of,  226 

of  Prussia,  Princess,  202 

of    Schleswig-Holstein,    Prin- 


cess, 256 

—  of  Tuscany,  Princess,  183  ; 
and  a  French  tutor,  191,  193  ; 
and  the  Jesuits,  188 ;  created 
Countess  di  Montignoso,  192  ;  her 
two  marriages,  184,  193  ;  re- 
nounced by  her  father,  190-1 
(see  also  Saxony,  the  Crown  Prin- 
cess of) 

—  of  Wales,  Princess,  251 

— ,  Princess  (daughter  of  Queen 


Victoria),  her  marriage,  242 
— ,  Queen  of  Denmark,  159,  201 
—  Fernanda,  the  Infanta,  139 
Margaret,  Princess,  245 


Luitpold,  Prince  Regent,  5 
Luxemburg,  a  German  bribe  to,  94  ; 

and  Belgium,  88  el  seq.  ;  the  Grand 

Duchess  of,  88 
Luynes,  the,  220 

M 

Makaroff,  Admiral,  66 
Manchurian  War,  the,  131 
Manuel  of  Portugal,  King,  154-6  ; 

marriage  of,   157  ;  the   exile   of, 

157 
Margaret   of  Connaught,    Princess, 

209 
,  Princess,  45,  46 


267 


INDEX 


Margherita  of  Savoy,  Princess,  103, 

104  ;  happy  married  life  of,  107  ; 

her  only  child,  105  ;  wedding  of, 

105 
Maria  do  las  Mercedes,  Donna,  139- 

140 

Pia  of  Bourbon,  Princess,  219  ; 

marriage  of,  228,  239 

Marie  Adelaide,  Grand  Duchess  of 
Luxemburg,  88  ;  a  German  De- 
coration for,  93 ;  accession  of,  89  ; 
and  the  neutrality  of  Luxemburg, 
89,  92  ;  her  father  and  mother, 
88  ;  her  great  wealth,  89  ;  her 
religious  beUef,  89,  91 

Alexandrovna,        Dowager 

Duchess,  237  ;    marriage  of,  72, 
243 

Anna,  Archduchess,  238 

Christine,  Queen  of  Spain,  21, 


25,  139  ;  and  the  Triple  Alliance, 
145  ;  becomes  Regent  of  Spain, 
143  ;  birth  of  a  posthumous  son, 
142  ;  elected  abbess  of  Prague, 
140 ;  her  children,  143 ;  meets 
Princess  Ena,  151  ;  wedding  of, 
142 
—  de    las    Mercedes,    Princess, 


238-9 

—  Doroth6e  of  Austria,  Arch- 
duchess, 225  (see  Orleans, 
Duchess  of) 

—  Feodorovna,  Empress  Dow- 
ager of  Russia,  215  {see  Dag- 
mar  of  Denmark,  Princess) 

—  Henriette,  Queen  of  the  Bel- 
gians, 96,  97 

—  Immaculata,  Princess,  239 

—  Jos6  in  Bavaria,  the  Duchess, 


94 

—  Josepha,  Princess  of  Saxony, 
10  et  seq.,  184 

—  Louise    of    Parma,    Princess, 


129,  238 
—  of  Cumberland,  Princess,  47 


Marie  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  Prin- 
cess, 46 

of    Orleans,    Princess,    168 ; 

death     of,     177  ;     marriage     of, 
169 

of  Russia,  Princess,  210  ;  as 


a    Sister    of    Charity,    215  ;    her 

divorce,  214 
— ,  Princess    (daughter    of    the 

Red  Prince),  73  ;  Queen  Emma's 

generosity  to,  76-7 
— ,  Queen  of  Roumania,  128 
Th^rfise,  Archduchess,  7,  8,  22 


May,  Princess  of  Teck  (now  Queen 

Mary),  marriage  of,   252-3 
Mecklenburg  -  Schwerin,         Grand 
Duchess  of,  47-8 

,  Henry  Prince  of,  82  ei  seq. 

Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  Grand  Duke 

of,  46 
Merenberg,  the  Count  of,  89 
Merode,  the  Countess  of,  103 
Messina,  the  earthquake  at,  112 
Mihtza     of     Russia,     the     Grand 

Duchess,  110,  116,  119 
Mirko,  Prince,  119 
Monica,  Princess,  birth  of,  192 
Monte  Carlo  and  its  creator,  136 
Montenegro,   H616ne   of,    Princess, 

108  et  seq. 
Montignoso,     Countess     di.     (See 

Louise  of  Tuscany  and  Saxony, 

Crown  Princess  of) 
Montpensier  family,  the,  139 
Moukhranski,  Prince,  marriage  of 

69 
Munck,  Miss  Ebba,  207 

N 

Napoleon  IIL,  227 ;  his  widow 
welcomes  French  refugee  rela- 
tives, 100 

,  Prince    Victor,     (See    Bona- 


parte) 


268 


INDEX 


Nassau,  the  Duke  of,  and  the  war 

of  1866,  202 
Nassaus,  the  last  of  the,  71  et  seq. 
Nemours,  the  Duke  of,  227 
Netherlands,    the,    Bismarck    and, 

71-2 
Netto,  Cardinal,  156 
Nicholas  II.,  Tsar  of  Russia,  8,  44  ; 

at  Coburg,  57-8  ;  his  daughters, 

59-60  ;    ill-health  of  his  son,  59, 

64  ;  marriage  of,  58  ;  visits  Cos- 

tanza,  60 
,  King  of  Montenegro,  118-19  ; 

his  daughters,  119-20 
Alexandrovitch,   the   Grand 


Duke  (Tsarevitch),  51,  53,  163 
—  of  Nassau,  Prince,  89 
— ,  the  Grand  Duke  (Command- 


er-in-Chief of  the  Russian  Army), 

120 
Nicolaievitch,    Grand    Duke    Con- 

stantine,  164 
,  Grand  Duke  Peter,  119 

O 

Olga,  Grand  Duchess  (afterwards 
Queen  of  Greece),  122,  164 

,  Princess    (daughter    of    the 

Duke  of  Cumberland),  48-9 

,  the  Grand  Duchess  (daughter 

of  the  Tsar),  59-60 

,  the  Grand  Duchess  (sister  of 


the  Tsar),  62 

Queen,  her  Russian  sympa- 


thies,-123,  135 

Orange,  the  Prince  of,  72 

Orleans,  the  Duchess  of  (Marie 
Dorothde),  225 

,  the  Duke  of,  marriage  of,  225 

Oscar  I.,  King  of  Sweden  and  Nor- 
way, marries  Princess  Josephine, 
200 

II.,  King  of  Sweden  and  Nor- 


way, marriage  of,  201 


Oscar  of  Prussia,  Prince,  40 

of  Sweden,  Prince,  207 

Otto,  Archduke,  10,  184 

of  Bavaria,  King  of  Greece, 


161 


Prince    of    Windisch-Graetz, 


22-3,  25 


Paris,  the  Bazar  de  la  Charit6  fire 
229 

,  the    Comte    de,    153,    217-8, 

220  ;  death  of,  221  ;  exiled  from 
France,  221 

,  the  Comtesse  de,  220 

Parma,  Elias  of,  Prince,  21 

,  Marie  Louise  of.  Princess,  129 

,  the  Duke  of,  11 

,  Zita  of.  Princess,  12  et  seq.,  21 

Pashitch,  M.,  Servian  Prime  Min- 
ister, 63,  116,  117 
Patricia   of    Connaught,    Princess, 

146 
Paul,  the  Grand  Duke,  55,  214 
Pauline,  of  Waldeck  and  Pyrmont, 

Princess,  74 
Pavlovna,  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie, 

68-9,  215 
Pawel-Rammingen,  Baron  de,  49 
Pedro   II,,   Dom,   flees  to   France, 
227 

,  Dom  (son  of  Pedro  II.),  his 

morganatic  marriage,  228 ;  re- 
nounces the  throne  of  Brazil,  228 
Peter,  King  of  Servia,  accession  of, 
113  ;  at  his  daughter's  wedding, 
117 

,  the  Grand  Duke,  116 

Petropavlosk,  the,  sinking  of,  66-7 
Philip  of  Coburg,  Prince,  97 
Piedmont,  Prince  of,  birth  of,  224 
Portugal  and  Spain,  139  et  seq. 

,  King  Carlos  of,  153 

,  Queen  Am61ie  of,  218 


269 


INDEX 


R 

Rapallo,  the  Marquis,  105 
Romanoffs,  the,  50  et  seq. 
Roumania,  Bulgaria  and  Greece,  121 

et  seq. 
Royalty,  Democracy  and,  257 
Rudolph,  Crown  Prince,  4,  6-7,  97 
Rupprecht  of  Bavaria,  Prince,  95, 

196 
Russia,  the  Dowager  Empress  of, 

110  ;  the  Tsar  and  Tsarina  of,  44 


Salm-Salm,  Prince  of,  21 
Sarajevo,  the  tragedy  of,  7,  9 
Sawinski,  M.,  213 
Saxe-Meiningen,  Bernard  of,  Prince, 

28-9 
Saxony  and  other  German  Courts, 

179  et  seq. 
,   Marie  Josepha  of.  Princess, 

10 


— ,  the  Crown  Princess  of,  179, 
188,  194,  (See  also  Louise  of 
Tuscany) 

the  King  of,  60 


Sazonoff,  M.,  117 
Schratt,  Frau  Katrine,  12 
Seefried,  Baron  von,  18 
Sergieieff,  M.  and  Madame  212-13 
Servia  and  Italy,  103  et  seq. 

,  King  Peter  of,  113  et  seq. 

,  Queen  H61^ne  and,  113 

Slavs,  the.  Queen  H616ne  and,  113 

Sophie    in    Bavaria    (Duchess    of 

Alenfon),  tragic  death  of,  229 

of  Nassau,  Princess,  201-2 

Sophy,  Archduchess,  1,  2 

Charlotte,  Princess,  marriage 

of,  39 

of  Prussia,  Princess,  46,  124  ; 

renounces  the  Protestant  faith, 
126 

Spain  and  Portugal,  139  et  seq. 


Spain,  Queen  Marie  Christine  of,  21, 
25 

,  the  King  of.     (See  Alphonso) 

Sparta,  the  Duke  of,  124 

,  the  Duchess  of.     (See  Sophy 

of  Prussia) 

Stephanie,  Princess  of  Belgium,  and 
her  father,  23,  99  ;  her  two  mar- 
riages, 4,  22,  97 

Sweden,  the  Royal  House  of,  198  et 
seq. 


Talleyrand,  Prince  de,  200 
Tatiana,  Princess  (daughter  of  the 

Grand  Duke  Constantine),  69 
,  the  Grand  Duchess  (daughter 

of  the  Tsar),  59-60 
Teck,  the  Duchess  of,  253 
Theodor,  Duke  Kari,  95 
Thyra  of  Denmark,  Princess,  43,  47, 

166,  168 
Torby,  Countess,  89 
Toscana,  the  ex-Grand  Duke  of,  22 
Triple  Alliance,  the,  112,  145,  171 
Entente,  the,  172-3 


Valerie,  Archduchess,  6 
VendOme,  the  Due  de,  231,  250 

,  Duchesse  de,  230-1 

Venizelos,  M.,  127 
Venosta,  the  Marquis  Visconti,  104 
Vera  of  Montenegro,  Princess,  120 
Victor  Emmanuel  II.,  King  of  Italy, 
103,   104 ;   and   the   Duchess   of 
Genoa,  105  ;  death  of,  107  ;  seizes 
patrimony  of  the  Church,  106 

Emmanuel     III.,     King    of 

Italy,  birth  of,  105  ;  his  marriage, 
111 
Victoria,  Empress  (wife  of  Freder 
ick  III.),  29  ;  death  of,  126 


270 


INDEX 


Victoria,  Queen  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  27 ;  and  the  Queen 
Regent  of  Spain,  145  ;  and  the 
wedding  of  the  Duke  of  York, 
252-3  ;  attends  the  marriage  of 
Princess  Frederica,  49  ;  her  hatred 
of  divorce  and  separation,  256  ; 
Princess  Beatrice's  devotion  to, 
247-8  ;  romantic  marriage  of,  241 

Eugenie  of  Spain,  Queen,  21, 

149  et  seq.,  226 

Louise,     Princess,    40  ;     her 


children,  43  ;  marriage  of,  43 

—  Melita  of  Saxe-Coburg,  Prin- 
cess, 57,  197 

of  Lippc,  Princess,  46 

— ,  Princess  Royal  of  England, 


242 


— ,  Queen  of  Sweden,  202  et  seq.  ; 
marriage  of,  203 
-,  the  Grand  Duchess,  65-6,  67 


Vladimir    of    Russia,    the    Grand 
Duchess,  65 

W 

Waldeck    and    Pyrmont,   Prince 

of,  74 
Waldemar  of  Denmark  Prince,  166, 
167  ;  death  of  his  wife,  177 ;  his 
marriage,  169 
Wales,  Albert  Edward,  Prince  of. 
{See  Edward  VII.,   King) 

,  Edward,  Prince  of,  62-3 

Wallersee,  Baroness  of,  195 
Wilhclmina,    Queen,  birth    of,  77  ; 
her  accession,  78,  79  ;  her  daugh- 
ter, 84  ;  marries  Prince  Henry, 
83  ;   popularity  of,  79-80 


William  II.,  German  Emperor,  a 
curious  anecdote  concerning,  125  ; 
and  Queen  Wilhelmina,  81-2  ;  and 
the  Crown  Prince,  33  et  seq.  ;  and 
the  Crown  Princess  of  Greece, 
126  ;  and  the  Princess  of  Hohen- 
berg,  9  ;  and  the  wedding  of 
Alphonso  XIII.,  153  ;  his  rela- 
tions with  Bismarck,  32 ;  his 
sons,  33,  38-40  ;  marriage  of,  31  ; 
visits  Copenhagen,  174 

III.,  King  of  the  Nether- 
lands, 72,  73  ;  character  of,  73-4  ; 
death  of,  76,  78  ;  his  first  wife,  73  ; 
his  second  marriage,  75 

of    Denmark,    Prince.      {See 


George  I.,  King  of  Greece) 
of  Sweden,  Prince,  68,  213 


Windisch-Gractz,  Prince  Otto  von, 

22-3,  25 
Wiirtemberg,  the  Queen  of,  51-2 


Xenia  of  Montenegro,  Princess,  120 
,  the  Grand  Duchess,  marriage 


of,  62 


York,  the  Duke  of,  marriage  252-3. 

(See  also  George  V.,  King) 
YoussoupofI,  Prince  and  Princess, 

70 


ZiTA,  Princess  of  Parma,  12  et  seq., 

21  ;  marriage  of,  238 
Zorka,    Princess    (consort    of    the 

King  of  Servia),  113 


Printed  bv 
Cassell  &  Company,  Limited,  La  Belle  Sadvags, 
London,  E.C. 
5.1115 


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